A Boy Who Lived
by timelessclocks
Summary: Harry Potter is not the boy who lived he is a boy who lived. As Harry struggles with the aftermath of The Prophecy, he slithers backwards into himself even further he is confronted by Ginny Weasley.
1. Prologue

_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches  
Born to those who thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.  
_  
It's funny. You spend your whole life wishing that someone, anyone would remember your birthday. Then something happens, and you wish you could forget. I was born. He killed my parents, now I have the power to kill him. Many good people have fought him, but in the end they all lost.

It didn't have to be me. Others defied him too. I am just afraid I won't be able to do what I was born to do. How can I fulfill my destiny? I don't want to be scared.

_And the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not  
live while the other survives  
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.  
_  
The words about my future are words that I can't say out loud. Not just because of the hurt they will cause others, but because I don't understand them myself. My father would have known that the words meant he would win. That he would live, but I am not my father.

When people remember that I am the Boy Who Lived, they forget that there is another boy who lived. I am not THE boy who lived. I am _a_ boy who lived, and after this is all over, there can only be one of us left alive. I don't want to die. Oh Merlin, I don't want to die.


	2. Ian

A Boy Who Lived

For my sister whom I love

-,-'---

Chapter 1: Ian

"Ginny, dear. Owl post just arrived. You have a letter," called Mrs. Weasley up the stairs.

"I'll be down in a bit, Mum." replied Ginny as she stepped out of the bathroom. She had woken up an hour earlier, and had gone and taken a shower. Waking up late had its advantages, she thought. She didn't have to fight for the bathroom in the mornings since she was usually the last one up. 

"Oh, and Ginny," Mrs. Weasley added, "Harry is coming later today."

"I know mum. I'll be down in a little while." she called back with an impatient groan.

Ginny walked down the hallway to her bedroom. She noticed her door was open, and as she stepped through the doorway, she saw Ron inside looking through her desk. She stood there for a second before screaming, "RON! Get out of my room!"

Ron jumped back, obviously startled, and turned towards her. "Sorry, just looking for some parchment. I need to send an owl to Hermione."

She continued to stand by the door with one hand on her hip and her other hand on the door handle. Trying to consider what Ron had just said, she forcefully pointed out the door as she snapped, "Well, you can find some downstairs, and DO NOT go through my drawers again."

Ron huffed as he walked out of the room. Ginny slammed the door behind him. "Arrgghh!" she said aloud as she locked the door. Turning back towards her bed, she dropped her wet towel to the floor, and flopped her naked self onto the bed. She lay on her stomach for a few seconds before rolling over onto her back. She closed her eyes and let the cool air of the room wash over her. She felt relaxed and wished she could go back to sleep.

After what seemed like an hour, Ginny struggled to her elbows and looked across the room at her closet. It was full of Muggle clothes. Her parents had wished that she and her brothers would dress more like respectable wizards, but had long since given up that fight. She let her elbows slip out from under her and felt the bed bounce as she fell back onto it.

She laid there staring at the ceiling for a few more moments. Slowly, she raised her arms above her head, and with bent legs and an arched back, she let out an enormous yawn. Her body snapped with a start when she heard her mother yell up the stairs. "Ginny, Harry is coming down the lane with your father right now, and you still have a letter down here."

"Right Mum. Thanks!" she yelled in reply.

She flew off the bed and rushed over to her dresser. She quickly grabbed some knickers and a bra and went over to the closet. She put on her underwear and grabbed an old worn pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt. She threw the t-shirt over her head as she fell backwards onto her bed. Putting one leg, then the other into her jeans, she kicked a little as she worked them over her hips. As soon as she had them buttoned, she jumped up and ran her fingers through her cool wet hair. She shook her head, throwing drops of water everywhere, and then ran her fingers through it again. She was quite happy as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Harry had just entered the house as Mr. Weasley apparated back to the Ministry of Magic when he heard a high pitched squeal. "Hello Harry. I am so glad you're here," beamed Mrs. Weasley the moment she saw Harry. She ran across the kitchen and wrapped him in a tight, motherly hug. He could not help but melt a little as he hugged her back.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," he said in an exhausted voice.

"Ron, take Harry's trunk up to his bedroom for him," said Mrs. Weasley, as Harry gave Ron a questioning look. "He looks exhausted." Finally releasing Harry, she put her hands on his shoulders and continued. "Harry, you come sit down and I'll get you something to eat. Are you hungry?" she paused for just a moment, and then with a sigh, her shoulders slumped slightly. Her eyes filled with concern as she asked caringly "What would you like dear?"

"I'm fine," said Harry in an appreciative voice. "Really, I am." He added this with a weak smile as he saw the worried look on Mrs. Weasley's face.

"Well, you go upstairs to your room then, and get settled in," she said as Harry turned to go upstairs. "Don't you and Ron get into too much trouble," she added with a smile.

Taking one last look in her mirror, Ginny drew in a deep steadying breath and slowly exhaled. She walked across her room and unlocked her door. She stood there for a minute before running down the stairs. As she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, her shoulder struck something hard. "Hi Harry," she said happily. Slightly out of breath from her run down the stairs, she turned to look at him and then added with a smile, "Sorry Harry." She turned back around and ran into the kitchen. 

Smiling to himself, Harry was about to shout after her, when Ron's voice echoed down the stairs. "Hey Harry! Get up here and get unpacked. I want to go flying. You brought your Firebolt right?" 

"I'm coming," he called up the stairs to Ron. Slowly putting one foot in front of the other, he made his way up to Ron's room.

"Mum, I'm going into the village for a bit. The budgies are supposed to be hatching soon, and I want to see them." said Ginny.

"Alright dear, but be careful." said Mrs. Weasley. "And remember, no magic!" she added.

"Mum, I'm not Fred or George," she said as she headed out the door. 

Ginny was about three steps onto the front porch when she stopped and turned around. She headed back inside, and ran upstairs. 

"What's wrong dear?" Mrs. Weasley called after her. 

"Nothing Mum. I just forgot something," replied Ginny. 

When Ginny got to her room, she surveyed it quickly then headed over to her bookshelf. She pulled a book off of it and tucked it under her arm and started towards the door. Almost as an after thought, she went over to her dresser, put the book down, and pulled out a bottle of her favorite perfume. She carefully dabbed a bit on her wrist, then rubbed her other wrist, ran them over her neck and over the back of her right knee.

With a huge grin on her face, she grabbed the book, and ran back down the stairs. "Ginny, is everything alright?" asked Mrs. Weasley as Ginny flew past her again.

"Fine Mum. See you later." she said without looking back.

"Be home for dinner. Your father should be home by then." called Mrs. Weasley as the door closed behind Ginny. "Oh, and don't forget your wand!"

She stopped immediately and felt her pockets. She turned around again, opened the door, walked through the kitchen and back up to her bedroom. She found her wand lying on her nightstand, and put it in her back pocket.

"Bye again, Mum." said Ginny with a sheepish grin and she walked past her mum for the fifth time.

"Be careful Ginny," Mrs. Weasley reminded Ginny one last time.

"Okay," Ginny yelled as she bounced down the front porch stairs.

Harry stopped on the top landing. He took a deep breath and stepped through the door. "Hey Harry. I put your trunk there," Ron said, pointing to the beat up trunk at the end of Harry's bed.

"My room, huh?" asked Harry with an amused look on his face.

"Yeah, well, you know. You're like the son Mum never had." Ron said. 

"She's got six of you. The son she never had?" asked Harry, giving Ron a strange look.

"Yeah, black hair, glasses? Oh well, bad joke. She goes on about you like you were one of us though. It wouldn't surprise me if Mum and Dad tried to adopt you someday. Unless you manage to find another way first," he answered with his voice trailing off as he noticed the dazed look on Harry's face. "Are you all right Harry? You look beat." 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's all. I think I'm going to unpack a bit, and then have a lie down." said Harry wearily.

"Okay. I'm going to go help Mum out in the garden. I'll see you later, then." said Ron with a hint of concern in his voice. He looked at Harry once more, and then left the room.

Once Ron was gone, Harry went over to his trunk and opened it. He took out his Firebolt and put it in the closet. Slowly he made his way back to his bed, and threw himself across it. After a minute, he rolled over onto his back, and moved up so his head was on the pillow, and his hands were behind his head. He glanced around the room. It was small, and somewhat worn. The walls were covered in posters, and other things. Ron's desk was messy as usual. Harry closed his eyes for a moment, drinking in the room. His room.

Harry opened his eyes and sat back up. He leaned over the end of his bed and pulled out a picture. He saw his parents. They were dancing happily. When they saw Harry, they stopped and waved at him. He felt his chest tighten as he waved softly back. He looked into the picture for a long time thinking about the prophecy that Dumbledore had revealed. He placed the picture on the back of his bed, and reached back into his trunk.

Harry carefully removed the picture of his parents' wedding. The ache in his chest deepened into dry silent weeping as he looked at this picture. Sirius looked over at his parents, and then at him. His face was beaming. This picture had always been special to him. Seeing his family look so happy filled Harry with bittersweet emotion because he knew they were all dead. 

Slowly Harry put this picture next to the other and settled into his bed. He stared at the ceiling, thinking. He had the power to defeat Voldemort. What was that power? How would he know when to use it? Would he be able to keep those he cared about safe? He didn't want to run away, but he didn't want any more people near him to be hurt. Why did Sirius have to be dead? He would have all the answers. Harry drifted into a restless sleep, his mind filled with doubt and fear.

Ginny walked down the lane away from The Burrow. The sun was shining brightly in the light blue cloudless sky. A cloudless sky was rather rare, but Ginny loved it. She marveled at the birds flying, because it reminded her of how much she loved flying. She always felt so free with the wind blowing hard through her hair. A slight breeze blew through the trees and kicked up dust with her every footstep. Before long she reached the outskirts of the village.

The path she was walking along joined with a cement sidewalk that ran alongside a small road. There were not many cars on it at the moment. This was a neighborhood, and seeing as how it was almost 1:00 in the afternoon, most of the people were already on their way back to work after lunch.

She continued walking along the winding road for several more minutes, and soon she found herself at the main street. There were many cars speeding along. As she sauntered towards the crosswalk, she thought about Diagon Alley. The shops that lined the wizard road were not all that different from the Muggle ones in Ottery St. Catchpole. Both had a bookstore, both had an ice cream parlor, and both had a pet store.

The pet store was where Ginny was heading right now. She had been coming to the store for years to look at all of the animals. Hasten Pets, it was called, and they had everything from fish and lizards to cats and dogs, but the reason she was coming here today was to see if the budgerigar eggs had hatched, and of course to see Ian.

Ian was the boy who worked in the shop. Well, not really a boy, she thought with a grin. He had just turned twenty-one, and being six feet tall with short black hair and a slightly muscular build, Ginny went a bit weak in the knees every time she saw him. His parents owned the shop, but he did a lot of the work. He had a knack for raising animals, but he especially liked his budgies. There was a large aviary out behind the store where nearly one hundred budgies lived. They made an awful racket sometimes, but Ginny found them absolutely fascinating.

She stopped at the cross walk and waited until it was safe to cross. She jogged across the street and past a small pizza parlour before stopping in front of Hasten Pets. She opened the door and walked right in. She immediately saw the lady standing behind the counter and called out "Hello, Mrs. Hasten."

"Oh, hi Ginny. How are you doing?" replied Mrs. Hasten with a bright smile. Mrs. Hasten was a tall lady, though not as tall as her son, with shoulder length brown hair. She was slender, and looked quite young considering she had just turned forty. She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white tank top with an apron on over it.

Ginny walked up to the counter and leaned over it to look down the hallway leading off to her left. "I'm fine thanks. I just came to see if the budgies had hatched yet. Is Ian here?" she asked just as she noticed him walking down the hall.

"Hi Ginny." called Ian with a smile.

"Hey there." said Ginny, returning the smile.

"They haven't hatched yet, but I expect they will in a day or so. You want to come back and look at the eggs? You can pick out the one you want," said Ian shaking his head slowly.

"Yeah. I'd love to!" replied Ginny as she walked around the counter. "Oh, I brought your book back. Thanks!" she added.

"No problem," he replied as Ginny laid the book on the counter.

As soon as Ginny was behind the counter, Ian held out his arm and let her pass. He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her down the narrow hallway. There was a door at the end that opened into a large outdoor courtyard. As Ginny stepped through the door followed closely by Ian, she saw the aviary immediately. It was a huge cage that was at least eight feet tall and as big around as her parents' living room and kitchen combined. Several small bushes and trees had been planted in there and there was a soft sort of grass covering the ground. There were birds of every colour ranging from green to blue to yellow to white, and, as if on cue, the moment Ginny stepped up to look at them, they all began squawking. Ginny started laughing as she covered her ears. "Ahh shut it you lot," said Ian loudly, and under his breath he muttered "bloody birds."

He led her around to the far side of the aviary to a small room. The air outside had been comfortably warm, but when they stepped into the room, it was down right hot. Ginny broke out into a sweat almost immediately as Ian shut the door behind her.

"Hey, that's my favorite perfume you're wearing," said Ian as he flashed a disarming smile.

"Really? I had no idea." replied Ginny with a smirk of mock surprise as she felt her knees weakening. "I'm surprised you can smell it with all of this bird crap in here." 

"Well, I'm used to the smell, so to me it really doesn't smell all that bad. Now let's see…" started Ian, his voice trailing off as he started looking at the labels on the various nesting boxes. "Ah, here we go. These should hatch in the next day or so."

He slowly lifted the lid on the box, and Ginny peered down inside. She saw five white eggs lying in the bottom of the box. "They are so small." she said.

Ian chuckled as his face broke out into another grin "No smaller than the last time you saw them, or the time before that, or the time before that."

Ginny smacked his arm playfully and looked up at him and said. "Okay, okay." She had been coming here to see the budgies for years, and had known Ian for exactly that long. It seemed like she mentioned how small the eggs were every time she saw them.

"So which one do you want? And what are you going to name him?" he asked as he looked down into the box.

"Oh, there is no way I could afford the bird, cage and all of the stuff, but you can keep her for me." said Ginny in a soft, sad, but reassuring way.

"Nah. Come on Ginny, we've talked about that before, and I have so many extra cages. I need to get rid of some of them. So which one do you want, and what's his name going to be?" he asked again.

Ginny's face brightened, and she started bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "Well, I think I want that one." she said as she pointed to an egg, being careful not to touch it. "and HER name is going to be Etain."

"Etain?" Ian asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah. She was an ancient Irish sun goddess," replied Ginny snapping her head playfully up to look at his face as she pulled a lock of red hair from behind her ear and held it out. She slowly ran her fingers through her hair to put the piece back.

"Ahh," said Ian still looking confused. After a second, his face cleared and he blurted out, "I get it. Duh. Red hair, Irish. Ok. That's a good name. Maybe SHE will be a yellow one. If it's not, you can pick another one."

"Nah. That's the one I chose, and once I choose for real, I stick with it." said Ginny thoughtfully.

"That's what I thought you'd say. Well listen. I have to get some of those gecko cages cleaned. Christina is coming round in about an hour. We were going to get some ice cream. You want to come with?" he asked as he left the hatchery and started walking back towards the front of the store 

"Sure. I'll meet you there." said Ginny, trying not to let the slight disappointment at the news that Ian's girlfriend would be joining them show in her voice as she followed closely on his heel.

Ginny corrected herself almost immediately. She was the one joining them, and besides, Christina was one of those women you loved to hate. She was tall, blonde, gorgeous, perfect body, perky breasts, and had the perfect personality too. It would have been so much easier if she was a bitch, Ginny thought. Then it would be much easier to overlook her perfections. As it was, Ginny was happy for them. If anyone was going to have Ian, then she couldn't think of anyone better than Christina.

As Ginny walked out from behind the counter, she shot Ian a coy grin. Trying to sound seductive, she said loudly enough for his mother to hear "Bye Ian. Thanks for everything. I'll see you later then?" Ginny walked just slowly enough to see the look Mrs. Hasten shot at Ian. He just rolled his eyes, and Ginny let out a giggle as she left the store. 

Once outside in the sun again, Ginny began to sweat. She wished she had brought her sunglasses too as she shielded her eyes from the glare as the sun reflected off of the shop windows. She was not sure what she wanted for lunch, so she started walking down the street.

She passed the book store, and peered in the window for just a second. Hermione would love that place, she thought as she looked away and continued walking. There were people bustling down both sides of the street, and soon Ginny was caught up in it. She found herself looking into all of the shops she passed wishing she could buy it all.

Ginny soon lost all track of time. She was looking in the window of a men's clothing store thinking about what Harry would look like in the shirt that was on display when a voice behind her made her jump. "Hey Ginny."

It was Ian. "Oh, hi. I was just looking in the windows. Do you think a guy would really like and wear that shirt?" she asked, pointing at the shirt in the window. "I mean, I like it, and think it would look good…" 

"Ginny, if a guy wears a shirt for no other reason than you got it for him, you'll know he's yours," replied Ian with a smile and a chuckle as he tried to avoid her question. "Are you ready to get some ice cream?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "I haven't eaten lunch yet. I sort of forgot," she added sheepishly.

Ginny took Ian's arm in hers and they walked in silence back up the street in the direction Ginny had just come from, and soon crossed to the other side. A few people said hello to them as they passed, and Ian politely said "Hi" in return. A little farther down the road they came to the ice cream shop.

The awning over the door was a pretty canary yellow with colourful polka dots. The front window went along the whole length of the shop, and the bottom of it was painted to look like it had lots of little ice cream cones all along it. There were several wrought iron tables and chairs with big umbrellas filling a courtyard between the ice cream shop and the sporting goods shop next door. Harry would love that place, Ginny thought as Ian opened the door for her and guided her through.

Once inside, Ginny immediately noticed Christina. When Christina was in a room, her mere presence demanded attention even if she was doing nothing, which is exactly what she was doing right then. When she saw Ian, she stood up with a smile and bounced over to him. She threw her arms around his neck, lifted herself onto her tiptoes and gave him a quick but passionate kiss. "Hi sweetie," she said in her perfect voice. With her arms still around Ian, she looked over at Ginny and smiled her perfect smile again and said, "Hey Ginny! Did the birds hatch yet?"

"No. Ian says it could be tomorrow though." said Ginny, returning Christina's smile. She even smells perfect. Just like my perfume, Ginny added to herself.

"Let's get some ice cream," said Ian as he broke out of Christina's embrace and moved towards the counter. "What do you want, Ginny?" he asked.

Ginny was still standing off to the side with Christina and answered in a very sarcastic voice, "Umm gee, we've gotten ice cream together for the past how many years? Let me see…I think I'll have…" She paused as she looked thoughtfully upwards, then looked at Ian and said with a deadpan expression "I don't know. Surprise me."

Christina let out a giggle and said "Come on Ginny, let's go out and get a table." Turning to Ian, she said "We're going outside. I want a scoop of green mint, and a scoop of double chocolate." Then she said to Ginny "You ought to try the mint and chocolate. They are perfect together." 

The two girls walked outside and sat down at one of the tables. Christina adjusted the umbrella to shade them from the bright sunlight. "So how is Charlie doing?" she asked.

"He's doing great. I'm surprised you'd ask, though, seeing how you and he, well...you know," replied Ginny.

"Yeah. I know," said Christina softly as she shook her head slightly.

Ginny and Christina sat chatting waiting for Ian to return, when Ginny noticed something that did not seem quite right. Across the street she saw a man dressed in a long dark cloak go into a men's clothing store. Ginny tapped Christina's arm and asked, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" asked Christina as she turned her head towards Ginny.

"That man. He was wearing a cloak. Isn't it a bit warm for that?" said Ginny.

"Yeah. I'll bet it was that guy, Mr. Prentice, that just moved in down the street from us. He moved in about a month ago. Always wears a black cloak. Didn't bring much else with him. Or so it seems. I have been wanting to get Ian to talk to him because he likes birds. We see owls flying around his house all the time. Loads of different kinds." 

"Really?" asked Ginny, her eyes widening.

"Yeah," answered Christina and she continued, "He seemed kind of strange though. Doesn't have a family. He came round and introduced himself a few nights after he moved in. He is in the Navy. The tattoo on his arm reminded me of Charlie's. Well, Charlie's is a dragon, and this guy, all I saw was the head of a snake under his sleeve. Was Charlie ever in the Navy?"

Ginny smiled at the question and said, "Nah. He went away to Romania."

Just then Ian came outside awkwardly carrying two bowls and one cone of ice cream. "Hey Ian! Over here!" called Christina.

"Thanks," said Ginny as Ian handed her a big cone with two scoops of double chocolate ice cream.

"Thanks hon." said Christina, taking the bowl of mint and chocolate from Ian's hand.

"What were you talking about while I was getting your ice cream?" asked Ian with a playful smile.

"Oh, nothing," said Ginny with a smile. 

"Girl talk," said Christina as she flashed a smile back at Ginny. Seeing this, Ginny's shoulders started to shake as she tried to keep from laughing.

"Oh. Ok. I get it." said Ian. He began to stand up as he continued. "I'll just go sit over here then."

Christina grabbed his arm and through a laugh managed to say "Sit down you. It was all girl talk about you. How handsome, and rugged and manly you are."

Ginny's face was red and her side hurt because she was laughing so hard. She closed her eyes tightly to force the tears out and wiped them on her sleeve. When she opened her eyes, she saw the man leaving the clothing store. He was dressed in a suit and had his cloak draped over his shoulders. "Hey, is that him?" Ginny asked Christina as she pointed across the street.

"Yeah, that's him," answered Christina as she struggled to control her laughter.

Ginny watched as Mr. Prentice made his way to the cross walk and crossed to their side of the street. On his way across, he was very visibly hot as he removed the cloak, and took off the suit jacket.

Ginny turned back to Ian and Christina and they continued to talk. Suddenly Christina waved and said "Hi, Mr. Prentice."

Ginny looked up and saw a man standing about Ian's height with peppery grey hair and glasses. "Hello. Must be off." he said in a nervous voice. His eyes lingered on Ginny for just a second, and Ginny thought she saw some sort of recognition in them. She had never seen this man before in her life, but it seemed like he knew who she was. She shook the feeling and went back to talking to Ian and his perfect girlfriend. 

After a while, Ginny stood up and thanked Ian for the ice cream, good bye to Christina and headed back through town towards home. It was getting late and the sun was starting to sink lower in the sky. It would still be light out for several more hours though since it was summer. She watched the cars driving down the previously quiet street as she found the dirt path that would lead her back to The Burrow.

As she walked home, her thoughts wandered from the baby bird she was going to get, to Christina and Ian, and finally she thought about Harry. Her pulse quickened a bit as she thought ahead to the next few weeks before school started again. Everybody had been very concerned about him since the Department of Mysteries, and when things happened that he had to be left with the Dursley's again for the first part of the summer, he had been furious, but strangely accepting. She had tried writing to him, but had only managed a couple of letters before she found out he would be spending the rest of the summer at The Burrow. It was going to be a long summer, she thought, as she started down the lane that led home.

Disclaimer: This is based on the Harry Potter Universe created by J.K. Rowling. She owns it all.

I have finished writing this story and am actually quite happy with it. It is over 100,000 words long, and I will be posting it in approximately 20 sections.

The reason I did not post any of it until I was done writing is to make sure that you, the reader, would have a completed story. I did not want to start posting, find a glaring plot hole and have to rewrite parts, or realize that I was not going to finish it and leave you hanging. Since I have shown you that courtesy, please show me the courtesy of reviewing.

Beta in Chief: LuvGinnyArwen

Beta's: Knightsaber, Alyssalina, Laura Laurent


	3. Coming Home

Chapter 2: Coming Home

Ginny walked up the front porch stairs and into the house. "Ginny! Where have you been?" came the shrill screech of Mrs. Weasley as she ran into the front room to see her daughter.

"I was in the village looking at the birds. Ian is going to give me one when they hatch," said Ginny, ignoring her mother's obvious irritation.

"Well, you were gone all day, and we had no idea when you'd be home. It's just not safe out there, dear," said Mrs. Weasley in a much calmer voice. "Your father will be home any minute, and then we're going to eat. Go get cleaned up for dinner. Be careful not to wake Harry."

Ginny started towards the stairs and saw Ron leaning against the kitchen counter, trying not to laugh. "Shut it, you!" she snapped, and stomped up the stairs.

Ginny went into the bathroom and washed her hands. She ran her wet hands through her hair and looked in the mirror. Her freckles were a bit darker than usual because of the sun, but she was pleased with what she saw. She took a handful of cold water and ran it over her face. With a loud sigh, she grabbed a towel and dried off.

She went back to her room, grabbed a book off of the shelf, and began to read. She had been reading for a few minutes when she heard a loud crack outside her window. Dad's home, she thought as she jumped up to look. Sure enough, Mr. Weasley was walking towards the house. He was dressed in his black work robes, and his pointed hat was still on his head. He did look a little weird, she thought as she looked at him. A warm smile crossed her face and she said aloud, "But he's my dad." Ginny watched him for another second before running down the stairs to greet him.

Ginny flew out the door, wrapped her arms around her father, and said gleefully, "Hi Dad. I missed you today." 

"I missed you too," he said as he returned her embrace. "How's your mother doing? I know things have been hard on her lately."

"She's fine," Ginny assured him as they linked arms walked towards the house.

As they walked into the kitchen Mrs. Weasley said, "Hello, Arthur. How was your day?"

"Good, Molly." With a sigh he added, "Just good."

"That's good dear," said Mrs. Weasley absentmindedly. "Ginny, your letter is still on the counter," she added, looking over at Ginny and pointing to the counter.

"Oh, right," said Ginny as she remembered the letter from earlier. "Thanks." She grabbed the letter, then went up the stairs to her room.

When Ginny got to her room, she threw herself onto her bed and opened the letter. It was from Neville. She read it quickly, then went over to her desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing. She felt awful for not writing him before now. He had sent her a couple of owls earlier in the summer, but she had never gotten around to replying.

"Ginny!" came Ron's voice from downstairs.

Ginny put her quill down, stood up and walked down the stairs. As she entered the kitchen, Ron was moving towards the stairs as he said, "I'll go get Harry for dinner." 

"No, Ron. Let him sleep. He's had a really hard time lately--the poor thing--and he probably doesn't want to be around a lot of people right now." said Mrs. Weasley in a wistful voice. "You just let him be. Go wash up." she added as she turned and left the kitchen while Ron went upstairs.

Ginny watched as they left the room. Slowly, quietly, she tiptoed over to the doorway that Mrs. Weasley had disappeared through and peered around the corner. Seeing that the coast was clear, she went back over to the table where all of the food they were going to eat for dinner was laid out. She grabbed a plate and began to fill it with Harry's favorite foods. When the plate was full, she put a knife, fork, and spoon into her back pocket and headed up the stairs towards Harry's room.

"Fine, but you'll be hungry later!" she heard Ron saying just before he started stomping down the stairs.

"He just wants to be left alone in his misery," said Ron crossly as he passed Ginny without looking up. "Oh, and he's throwing things too."

Ginny paused on the stairs. She began thinking about the night at the Department of Mysteries. Harry had fought so bravely to save them all. She knew he was carrying an immense guilt for nearly getting them all killed. Ever since that night, Harry had been withdrawn, and didn't really talk to any one, even his friends.

Ginny had written to Hermione a few times, and it was clear the she was worried about him too. Hermione had said that Harry would just need to brood until he worked things out for himself. He would eventually come around if he wasn't pushed. Ginny wasn't sure she agreed with that. It was true, she thought, that Harry brooded and pushed his friends away, but he had never shut her out before, and she would not let him start now.

She shook the thoughts from her head and started back up the stairs. When she got to Harry and Ron's room, the door was still open and Harry's pillow was on the floor in the doorway. She smiled to herself as she pictured Harry throwing the pillow at Ron. Ginny bent over and picked it up, being careful not to spill the plate of food she was still carrying. After pausing for a second, her grin became very mischievous and she threw the pillow at Harry. It landed with a soft thud squarely on his head.

She stood there in the doorway as Harry gave a loud grunt. She watched as he slowly sat up. She could tell that he was still very tired and worn, and hated to seem him look like this. There was so little left of him that was the same as when she first laid eyes on him. She felt her heart ache as she watched her friend reach unsteadily for his glasses, but couldn't help but smile at the look of surprise on his face when he finally put them on.

Trying to hide her smile at the sight before her, she said softly, "Hey, you. We told Ron not to wake you up. Mum didn't think you would want to come down for dinner, so I brought some up for you."

"Thanks. I'll come down in a minute," said Harry cheerfully. "Your Mum didn't make pumpkin pie, did she?" he asked, making a sour face.

Ginny laughed at the look on Harry's face. "No. No one here can stand it," she said as she put the plate of food down on Ron's desk. "Especially Ron, ever since Fred and George charmed that one to taste like dead fish," she said with a shudder. She ran across the room to Harry, grabbed both his hands, and pulled him up off of the bed. "Come on," she said with a flip of her hair, and with that she headed down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Mrs. Weasley was standing with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "I thought I told you not to wake him up," she said.

"But Mum, he needs to eat. Besides, Ron was up there first," whined Ginny.

Mrs. Weasley turned to Ron and glared at him. Ron, who was sitting at the table putting food onto his plate, shrugged sheepishly, pointed at Ginny and said, "Er…what she said."

"Well, you'll all feel just awful if he gets really sick just because you couldn't let him be," Mrs. Weasley said as she let out a sigh. 

A moment later, Harry came down the stairs and sat down at the table. He loaded his plate with food and began to eat. Ginny couldn't help but notice that he looked almost happy. She ate her dinner while trying to catch Harry's eye. Once or twice their eyes met and a knowing look passed between them. It made her very happy to see him looking content, even if it was only for a moment.

Ginny thought again about what Hermione had said. While Hermione was Harry's best friend, there were things that Ginny and Harry had shared that Hermione could never understand. She knew that when Harry retreated into himself, he didn't really want to be alone. What he needed was someone to listen, but not answer.

As soon as dinner was over, Ron, Harry and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley clear up. When they were done, Ginny followed Ron into the living room leaving Harry and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked softly.

"Yes, dear?" replied Mrs. Weasley as she hung up a towel.

"You know that picture of the family you took when you were in Egypt?" Harry began tentatively. "I was wondering. . .if you have an extra copy of it, I'd like one very much."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears. "Of course, Harry, of course. I wish you could have been there with us. It would have been so much fun having the whole family there. I'll go get it for you as soon as I'm done in here. Now, you run along in there with Ginny and Ron," she said, pushing Harry towards the door.

Ginny sat down in her favorite chair and picked up a book. She curled her legs up and, just as she started to read, she heard Ron ask, "How did you get him to come down?"

Without looking up from her book she replied, "He was just hungry, I guess."

"Well, I asked him to come down, and he just chucked his pillow at me," said Ron.

Slowly Ginny lowered her book and looked right into Ron's eyes. "You shouldn't have woken him up," she said with a cheeky look in her eye.

"But you went up there too," he replied, his voice rising.

"But he was already awake when I got there," she said with a grin just as Harry walked into the room.

Ginny picked up her book and continued reading. Every so often she would look over at Harry and Ron. They were talking about Quidditch as they played a game of wizard chess, and as usual Ron was winning. Harry did not seem to mind, though. There were a couple of times that Ginny caught Harry's eye, and they lingered on each other for just a moment before Harry turned back to the game. She smiled to herself each time their eyes met.

She wanted desperately to talk about Quidditch with them. Ron seemed to think that the Chudley Cannons and their new Seeker had a chance of winning the cup this year, and she had to agree. They might be able to pull it off, but she loved teasing Ron, telling him that they did not stand a chance. She knew Ron was still irritated about the fact that Oliver Wood had opted to go to Puddlmere United as keeper, rather than go to Cannons. Just as she was about to jump into the conversation she stopped.

Ron and Harry looked so happy off in their own little world that she did not want to disturb them. So, with a forced yawn and a stretch, she closed her book, stood up and said, "Well, you two, it's late. I'm going to bed. I need my beauty sleep, you know," She smiled warmly at Harry as she slowly made her way over to the stairs.

By the time Ginny reached her bedroom, fatigue had set in. She tossed the book onto her desk, and went to her closet to find a night shirt. She stood there staring blankly for a moment, then finally found what she was looking for and changed into it. With a huge yawn, she made her way over to the window and looked out. She saw the faint glow of the sleeping Ottery St. Catchpole in the distance. Everything seemed so peaceful to her right now. With a slight grunt, she lifted the window open. She shivered involuntarily as she felt a rush of warm air. Putting her elbows on the windowsill, Ginny stuck her head out the window and looked up at the stars.

Her thoughts began to wander back to Harry. She knew he had nightmares, they had talked about them before. Night time was his least favourite time of the day because it meant that he had to fall asleep. She did not mind the night however. Everything was so quiet and peaceful, and the nightmares would stop eventually, she always told herself. The only way she would know that they had gone was to face them, and one day she would sleep peacefully. She just hoped that her friend would find the same peace.

Ginny heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and she finally decided it was time to go to sleep. A beetle began to buzz around her face, and as she waved it off, she closed the window. Taking one last look at the village glow, she closed her blinds and walked towards her bed. She swung her arms and jumped high into the air and spun around and fell back first onto it. She let out a slight giggle as she pulled her covers out from under herself. Once she was comfortably under the blankets, she smiled at the cool comforting feeling that overcame her. With a small sigh, she drifted off to sleep.

Harry watched Ginny leave, and then turned to Ron and began, "You know…" but his voice trailed off as he sank into thought.

Ron waited for him to continue. When he didn't say anything Ron looked at him with a questioning look and said, "Er…what?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just tired. I think I need to get to bed too." And with that, Harry stood up, leaving a puzzled Ron sitting on the floor.

Harry was about halfway up to his room when he heard Mrs. Weasley call his name. He turned to see her on the landing holding something. "Harry, here is the picture you wanted."

He came down to meet her. She handed him the picture. His hand was trembling slightly as he took it. Once he had it, Mrs. Weasley took him into her arms and held him for a second, and then said in a very concerned voice "Try and get some sleep, okay? You look awful."

Harry went up to his bedroom and placed the picture Mrs. Weasley had given him between the other two. As he looked at all of the faces that were smiling and waving at him, he began to think again of the prophecy. His eyes soon became heavy with tears and fatigue, and he drifted off into a tormented sleep.

A few days later, Fred and George came home. They greeted Harry enthusiastically, and, at Mrs. Weasley's request, went outside and cleared the gnomes out of the garden.

"I'll bet she saved this just for us," said Fred.

"Yeah she did," said Ron with a smile "I heard her telling Dad to make sure that there were plenty of gnomes to keep you two out of trouble."

"Us? Cause trouble?" replied George with a mischievous grin.

Fred was struggling to keep a straight face as he said, "Never," in the most sarcastic voice he could muster.

As Ginny walked out the back door, she saw her brothers and Harry laughing hysterically. She started jogging over to them trying not to laugh herself She stopped, put her hands on her hips and with a very serious face said, "And just what is so funny?"

"Nothing, dear sister." said Fred through laughter.

"We weren't saying a word about you," laughed George.

Harry and Ron just shrugged as Ginny looked over at them. They were both shaking as they tried to hold in their laughter. Finally Ron could not hold it in any longer and he burst out laughing so hard that he fell over. Harry looked down at Ron and said, "You all right there, mate?"

Ron was gasping for breath as he kept laughing. Ginny looked at Harry, and when he looked up at her she smiled and flirtatiously stuck out her tongue at him. He smiled back and they picked Ron up off the ground.

After a few minutes, they finally managed to stop laughing. Fred and George started telling them all about their shop, and their new inventions, but before long, the conversation had turned to Quidditch. Predictably, Ron started talking about the Cannons. "I reckon they'll have a chance to win it this year. They have that new Seeker and all. I know it's only his first year, but he's supposed to be really good." 

Thinking back to the other night, Ginny smiled and said, "Not a chance, Ron. The Puddlemere United team is too good. Nobody can beat them."

"Are you mental? Too good? Their Chasers?" said Ron as his face went red. "They finished dead last in points last year. The only reason they won so many games was because of their Seeker, and he's on injured reserve right now. Win the cup? No way!"

Ginny just smiled even wider. She knew exactly what buttons to push. "No he's not! He's going to be ready for the first game," she said.

"What? Where did you hear that rubbish?" asked Ron indignantly.

"Read it just yesterday in Quidditch Weekly. And besides that, United has the best Keeper in the league." said Ginny with a nod.

Ron sounded incredulous as he replied, "WHAT? You really are mental! Wood, the best Keeper in the league? Arrghhh!"

All eyes were on Ron as his face went even redder and became contorted in disbelief. Harry, Fred and George were trying desperately not to laugh. Ginny was shaking with suppressed laughter as she watched Ron staring at them with his mouth open and a look of total disbelief on his face. Unable to speak, he just huffed and started walking towards the house.

Ginny was unable to hold in her laughter as she called out to Ron. "Ron, I was only joking!" Seeing Ginny start to laugh was enough to break the others' resolve, and they all burst out laughing.

"Yeah, well, you're still mental." said Ron as he turned around to face the others. "The whole lot of you!" he added before he started laughing himself.

A little while later, Mrs. Weasley called them in to wash up for dinner. As they made their way up to the house the boys were still talking and making jokes and Ginny began to think about how happy she was when Harry was happy. The past few days had been hard for them, and it made her happy to see Harry laughing, and forgetting, even for a moment, all the problems they faced. By the time they reached the house, Ginny was smiling inside and out.

As soon as they were inside, Mrs. Weasley said, "Ron, Harry, Ginny, hurry and get washed up. I need some help getting this all on the table." 

With innocent looks on their faces, Fred and George asked in unison, "Aw, can't we help, Mum?"

"I hate it when they do that," mumbled Ron, almost inaudibly.

Mrs. Weasley just looked at them. The smirk on her face told them all they needed to know.

Fred and George grinned as they said "All right, Mum. We get the hint. We'll just go wash up now." And with that, they turned and left.

As usual, the dinner was delicious. Ginny ate a lot, and she noticed that Harry was eating well too. When they had finished eating, Fred and George disappeared. Ginny, Harry and Ron eventually got up and helped Mrs. Weasley clean up. Ginny left the kitchen before anyone else.

She walked through the house and out onto the front porch. Her shirt slid up as she lifted her arms into a tall stretch. The air was cool on her stomach, and she shivered slightly. Taking a deep breath, she jumped off the porch and began to walk. She had always liked to take walks in the evening. The sunsets were beautiful, and she loved the sounds of nature as nighttime fell.

Ginny thought about Hermione's latest owl. She was coming to the Burrow in a couple of days. Ginny was excited. It would be nice to have a girl friend here.

As she turned around and headed home, he thoughts changed from Hermione to Harry. She was glad he could show some happiness at times, but she could tell he was still troubled by the things that had happened at the Department of Mysteries. Hermione had said that Harry was shutting her out, and from what little he had confided in Ginny, she didn't know much more than Hermione. Maybe Ron knew something she thought as she headed up the steps to the house to look for Ron. 

"Ron!" Ginny shouted up the stairs. She waited for a second, and when no answer came, she yelled again. "RON!" 

With a heavy sigh, Ginny walked up the stairs towards her youngest brother's room. She heard voices inside as she approached. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door opened, and a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her inside.

"Fred!" exclaimed a startled Ginny. Quickly surveying the room, her eyes came to rest on the other twin. "George, what are you two doing?" whispered Ginny as Fred released her and shut the door behind them. 

George was crouched in front of an open trunk. "That's Harry's trunk," pointed out Ginny in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, it is," replied George with a mischievous grin and chuckle. 

"What are you doing?" asked Ginny again as she crossed the room and squatted beside George.

"Oh…nothing," said Fred, looking up at the ceiling with an innocent look on his face.

"George? What are you two doing?" demanded Ginny with obvious irritation and a hint of amusement as she turned back towards the open trunk.

"Well…er…we'll all get a good laugh," sniggered George in an innocent way that told Ginny the 'all' he was referring to probably didn't include Harry. 

"Yeah, he'll think it was funny." chimed in Fred with the same innocent look plastered on his face.

"When he looks back on it in about ten years," finished George with a laugh, finally unable to hold it in any longer.

"Hey, Fred," said George with an amazed sound in his voice. "Would you look at this!"

"What is it?" asked Fred as he bent down beside George and Ginny.

"Looks like a list of all the ways Harry is going to die," replied George as his eyes scanned the parchment he was holding.

"Hey!" exclaimed Ginny. "That's Harry and Ron's old Divination homework for Trelawney. Put it back!"

Fred moved in closer and began reading. "Or kill people. Look at that one." He pointed to the middle of the parchment. "Or THAT one!" 

"Put that down." threatened Ginny.

Fred looked up at Ginny. Ginny had stood up and was staring at him with a threatening glare. He slowly put the parchment down. "Come on, George. I think our job here is done." he said shifting his gaze from Ginny to George.

"Don't worry Ginny, he'll think it was funny. Honest," said George with a grin, and together Fred and George got to their feet and left the room.

Ginny just stood there for a second. She soaked in the silence of the room. It was getting late, and soon everyone would be going to bed. She let out a long slow sigh. Nearly every night since Harry had arrived at The Burrow she and Harry had ended up downstairs together. They would simply sit on opposite ends of the couch and not say much of anything. Harry did not need to say much for Ginny to know exactly what he was going through. She had a feeling Harry understood her too. Eventually they would make it back to their beds for a few hours of restless sleep.

She felt her eyes start to burn as the tears welled up in them. She walked over to Harry's bed and sat down on the corner by his pillow, being careful not to disturb anything. Harry had become so hollow since the night at the Department of Mysteries. She was concerned for her friend. She had seen him withdraw into himself before, but this time was different. She was not sure what it was, but she had a hunch that it went far deeper than Sirius' death. Ginny had talked to Hermione about it, hoping Harry had at least confided something in her, but knew before she asked that Harry hadn't.

Ginny noticed that Harry had unpacked very little since he had come home. This really was his home, she thought, even if he didn't know it. He had a few pictures placed on the head of his bed. One showed his parents dancing. She had seen that picture before. Harry's parents waved at her. She sighed as she lifted her hand slightly and waved meekly back. There was a picture of his parents at their wedding with Sirius. Harry had proudly and excitedly shown her that picture shortly after she learned that Sirius was alive and one of the good guys. She reached out and brushed Sirius' face with the tips of her fingers, lingering for a moment as she thought of what he had meant to Harry.

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the last picture. She had never known he had kept this one. It was the old newspaper clipping of the Weasleys in Egypt. Maybe he was closer to coming home than she realized, she thought as the tears began to fall silently down her cheeks.

As soon as they had finished helping Mrs. Weasley clean up, Ron and Harry walked out into the garden. It was a quiet clear night. As they walked, they could hear the hum of the insects, and the slight breeze was a cool relief from the heat of the day. They could hear the trees rustling slightly as they neared the woods in the lower garden.

"Hey, Harry, tomorrow's your birthday!" Ron suddenly exclaimed. Harry's face went slack as he looked up at the stars. Ron quickly added, "I know something's been going on with you, mate. I know how you are, so I won't even ask what it is, but it was good to see you laughing today. That was the Harry I know." With that, Ron turned and gave Harry an awkwardly manly hug.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at the stars. Harry finally sat down in the grass, and Ron sat down too. They looked up at the stars. Harry laid down on his back with his hands behind his head and began thinking. Tomorrow was the day he had always wanted someone, anyone to remember his birthday, but now all he wanted was to forget.

"Hey, Ron," Harry said. "I'm getting tired. I think I'm going to head in and try to get some sleep."

Ron stood beside Harry, and together they walked back to the house in silence. Harry let out a slow sigh as he thought about the nights he had spent at The Burrow. They were always restless. He usually ended up downstairs with her. They never said much, but then again they didn't need to. He knew what she had been through. He knew about the nightmares. Ginny seemed to be able to understand him without him having to say a word. They would sit on opposite ends of the couch, and after a while, they would go back to bed for a few precious hours of tortured sleep.

When Harry and Ron reached the house, Ron turned to Harry and said "Oh, hey I forgot. I got you a birthday present. Well, I didn't buy it or anything, but I got it for you from Grimmauld Place."

At the mention of Grimmauld Place, Harry felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. His mind immediately went to Sirius, and the event of the night at the Department of Mysteries. Waves of despair flooded over Harry as he thought about how so many people close to him had died at the hand of Voldemort. How could he ever win this?

"Harry?" said Ron, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. "It's in Dad's shed. Come on."

Harry followed closely behind, and when they got there, Ron opened the door, and they stepped inside. It was quite dark except for a couple of things that Harry had could not identify that were glowing pale blue. This was enough light for Ron to find what he was looking for. Ron handed Harry an old wooden box. Harry opened it carefully, and looked inside. There was a bottle of Gin. He stared in stunned silence at Ron.

When he found his voice, he asked in disbelief, "How did you get this? Your mum will kill us if she finds this."

"Like I said, I got it from Grimmauld Place. Well, no I didn't," Ron said. "But I asked a set of unnamed twins to get me something of Sirius' to give you for your birthday. This is what they brought back. And yeah, she'll kill us. That was probably what Fred and George were thinking too." He paused for a moment, then looked at Harry and said, "Well, happy birthday, mate." They walked back to the house for the second time, and headed straight for the stairs.

Ginny jumped at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. She jumped up off the bed, wiped the tears from her eyes, and ran her sleeve across her nose. She took a couple of deep breaths and started towards the door. Just as she reached up to open it, it opened from the outside. Ron came through the door and stopped suddenly when he saw Ginny. 

"Hey, Ginny. What're you doing in here?" Ron asked suspiciously as he glanced around the room. When Harry heard Ron talking to Ginny, he quickly put the box down in the shadowed corner by their door.

"I was looking for you. I wanted to talk about…" She stopped in mid- sentence as Harry stepped up next to Ron.

"Hi Ginny," he said. His eyes lingered on her face as if he was searching for something. They finally rested on her eyes. For just a moment, their eyes locked. In that instant, Ginny saw the depth of his pain as a knowing glance passed between them. She had to look away.

"What?" asked Ron. 

Ginny looked up at him. "It's…it's nothing. Good night then." she said softly. She started to leave the room when Harry caught her gaze again. Their eyes did not leave each other's this time as she turned and walked backwards out of the room. The pain she felt in her chest was almost unbearable as she raised her arm slightly and her hand bent into a soft wave.

She stood outside the door for a moment after it closed. The tears began to fall again as she heard Ron ask Harry what that was all about. It's nothing, Harry answered, and then he asked Ron about the new Seeker that had recently joined the Cannons. "Good night, Harry," she whispered to herself as she exhaled a deep breath. She ran her hands through her hair and headed down the stairs to her own room.


	4. Misspoken Words

Chapter 3: Misspoken Words

When the door closed behind Ginny, Ron turned to Harry and asked, "What was that all about?"

"It's nothing," Harry replied with a distant look in his eyes. Shaking his head to clear the vision of Ginny, he said, "So, do you really think that new Seeker on the Cannons is going to help them win this year?"

They talked for a minute or so, and then Harry popped his head out the door. The hallway was empty. He went over to where he had hidden the box, and brought it into their room. He went straight over to his trunk and put the box at the very bottom.

The boys talked for a while longer, and then Ron finally said, "Well, mate, I'm knackered. I'll see you in the morning." With that he got up, put on his pajamas, and got back into bed. Within minutes, all Harry could hear was his heart pounding in his head, and Ron's calm, even breathing.

Harry got up, put on his pajamas, and got back into bed. He laid awake for a long time staring at the pictures on the back of his bed. His parents waving at him. Sirius was trying to look at both him and his parents at the same time. Harry felt a lurch in his stomach when his eyes rested on the picture of the Weasleys. He picked it up gingerly with one hand and ran his fingers slowly across it. He felt tears welling in his eyes at he replaced the picture carefully on the end of his bed. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

Unable to sleep, he quietly got out of bed, opened his trunk and dug out the old wooden box. With a last look over at Ron, he grabbed his wand, tucked the box under his arm and slipped out the door.

Harry made his way down to the kitchen and put the box on the table. He sat in the darkness for a while, then he got up and walked over to the cabinet above the sink and took down a glass. When he got back to the table, he carefully, almost reverently, opened the box and took out the bottle of gin.

He recalled the times he and Sirius had spent talking over this bottle. Harry had tried a small sip once, and thought it tasted like floor varnish. He never touched it again. Sirius said it helped numb the pain, and helped him forget. That was what Harry wanted more than anything right now. He wanted the pain to go away, and he dearly wanted to forget.

Harry pulled the cork out of the bottle, and poured some gin into his glass. He smelled it, swirled it for a moment, and then set it down. He sat for a while just staring blankly into the glass.

With a soft sigh, he stood up and went over to the stove. He grabbed a candle, but when he put it on the table, he realized he had no idea where any matches were. He put the candle back and found a small bowl. He put the bowl on the table and drew his wand.

After a small flick of his wrist, a soft blue flame danced in the bowl casting shadows through out the kitchen. Harry's features grew dark as he thought again about Sirius. He didn't have to die. Why was it that so many of the good people had to die? His parents, Neville Longbottom's parents, Sirius. He knew things would only get worse. What if something happened to Hermione? Or Ron? He shuddered visibly as he thought, Or Ginny? Nobody was safe anymore.

A soft tapping at the window broke Harry's thoughts. He looked up and saw an owl. He went over to the window and let it in. He recognized it as a Ministry owl. He chuckled dryly as he said, "Took them long enough." He took the parchment and tossed it on the table without even opening it. The owl took off through the open window, as the cookoo clock squawked midnight.

Great. It's my birthday, he thought. Why couldn't it just go away? Why couldn't all of this just go away? 

Harry went and sat back down without bothering to shut the window. He picked up the glass of gin and smelled it again. It still smelled like Muggle paint. He had no idea how Sirius could stand the stuff. He could take the easy way out. He could drown himself in the liquor tonight. He could run and hide. Those he cared about would be safer that way. For a little while, at least. Eventually he would have to face the prophecy, but if he could put it off, then maybe his friends would be safe.

He heard someone clear their throat. He knew who it was without having to look up. He just sat there for a moment looking at the bottle. I'm not going to do the easy thing, he said to himself. I'm going to do the right thing. He looked up at her as she sat down.

"Hey," she said in a soft voice. 

"Hi, Ginny," He replied. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I came down here to get some water," she answered. Harry watched her in mild amusement as she looked from his face to the bottle, then stopping on the fire. She asked, "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep either," He replied, as the weight of his fatigue slowly began to set in.

Ginny pointed at the bowl and asked, "Did Hermione teach you that?"

"Yeah," he said absently.

Her eyes brightened a bit as she said "You're going to get in trouble for that, you know,"

He pushed the rolled up parchment over to her. She unrolled it and let out a small giggle. Mockingly, she read, "Improper use of Magic Office. Dear Mister Harry Potter, At precisely seventeen minutes before midnight…" As her voice trailed off, Harry looked up and saw her looking at him.

He shrugged and said innocently, "I couldn't find any matches."

"What is that?" she asked, pointing at the bottle and full glass.

"Gin," He said.

"What?" she replied.

Harry looked over at her and saw a confused look on her face. "This is gin." he said with a smile, as the humour of the pun hit him. He stood up and got another glass out of the cabinet.

Harry walked back to the table and grabbed the bottle. He filled the glass and handed it to her. Still smiling, he said "Gin, meet gin."

"How much have you had to drink?" asked Ginny with an amused look on her face. Harry watched as she lowered her glass and looked up at him.

"None. This stuff tastes awful," he replied. "I don't know what Sirius ever saw in it. I found the bottle at Grimmauld Place," said Harry deliberately, not wanting to get Ron or the twins in trouble if Mr. or Mrs. Weasley found out. "It was his," said Harry. His eyes slowly focused back on the flames as he added quietly, "He never had the chance to finish it." 

"Yeah, me either," said Ginny leaning over to look in his eyes.

Harry looked at her with a confused look on his face. What was that supposed to mean? he asked himself.

In answer to his question, Ginny said, "It's a long story," as she glanced upwards and around the dark room.

He shook his head slightly and forced a small chuckle. Putting his glass down on the table, he grabbed the bowl and walked into the living room. He glanced up at the cookoo clock. It's still my birthday, he thought. He didn't take up his regular spot on the couch, but rather sat down on the floor with his legs stretched out. He heard Ginny coming into the living room, and watched as she sat down, folded her legs and rested her elbows on her knees.

"It's after midnight," said Ginny, smiling at Harry. "Happy birthday."

"Oh, thanks." he said. "I forgot."

Harry felt the cuffs of his pajamas creeping slowly over his calves. He had not remembered his pajamas being this short when he put them on. He started pulling at them, trying to get them to fit the way they had an hour ago. Before he could think about it any more, Ginny asked with amusement in her eye, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. These pants seem a bit shorter than when I put them on," he replied as he crossed his legs and scooted away from the couch that he had been leaning up against. Harry saw Ginny's eyes widen, as she remembered Fred and George, and he began to blush. That must have sounded bad, he thought. He quickly decided to change the subject. 

"Did you know Neville's birthday was a few days ago?" he asked Ginny.

"Yeah. He and his grandmother were going to visit his parents," answered Ginny. Harry looked at her, wondering how she knew that. His confusion must have registered with her because she quickly added, "He owled me."

Harry stared into the blue flame. He felt his chest tighten as he thought about Neville's parents. They had fought Voldemort, and they had lost. He dropped his head to his chest, and his shoulders sagged at that thought. "Harry, what is it?" asked Ginny. 

"Neville's parents. They fought Voldemort, and look at what happened to them," he said, not raising his head. He didn't think he could look at her right now. He was feeling scared.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have said anything," said Ginny as he watched her lean forward slightly.

"No, it's all right. I was just thinking out loud," he said as he tried to look anywhere but at her.

"What else are you thinking about?" she asked.

His thoughts were so confused, but slowly they began to come into focus. "Neville could have been me," he said.

A look of confusion crossed Ginny's face. "What do you mean?" she asked with concern.

"My parents fought too. And they lost," said Harry as he gazed into Ginny's eyes.

"Harry, they fought to save you." she said softly. Harry could not look at her anymore. His eyes were filling with tears and he didn't want her to see him cry. He looked up, down, and all over the room. He could not look into her eyes right now or he would lose himself completely.

"Harry, look at me." said Ginny. Taking a deep breath, he tried to choke back the tears as he turned and looked at Ginny. "You lived." 

While so many others died, he thought, as he looked deeply into her eyes. He felt a stab of pain in his heart at her words. 

"So, in a way," she said, her voice cracking, "they won." She turned her head away as she spoke.

"Ginny, don't you see? Nobody wins against Voldemort. Not Neville's parents, not my parents, not Sirius." said Harry as feelings of hopelessness returned, heavier than ever. "I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me."

"Nobody has been hurt because of you, Harry,"she said calmly. Harry watched as she took a deep breath and reached out her hand and softly put it on top of his own.

Harry felt his entire body shudder inwardly at the touch. She felt so warm. So full of life. For that one instant, it felt to Harry as if nothing else in the world mattered. He wanted to feel her hand on his forever.

His thoughts quickly snapped back to what had to happen. It's either him or me he thought as he jerked his hand away. "You just don't understand."

"Then help me understand, Harry," pleaded Ginny, as she held out her open hand towards him.

Harry looked at Ginny. He was barely able to force the words out. "I can't. It's complicated. I don't understand it myself."

"Harry, I know what you're doing, and it may work on Ron and Hermione, but you know it won't work on me," said Ginny.

Harry felt his heart start to crack as he looked into her eyes. He saw a fire that burned him to his very core. "Oh yeah? What am I doing?" he snapped. He felt so torn inside. He saw how much she cared about him. He remembered Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He remembered Ron. He remembered Hermione. His thoughts fell back to the woman sitting in front of him, then to Sirius. He didn't want anyone else to be hurt because of him.

"Falling into hero mode. Pushing everyone who loves you away," Ginny said.

"Ginny, I don't want to, but look at what's happened," Harry pleaded. Slowly, he continued, "Voldemort wants to kill me. He marked me, Ginny. Nobody is safe around me anymore."

"Nobody's safe anywhere. You said it yourself." Ginny pointed out.

"I know, Ginny," said Harry softly as he buried his face in his hands. He began to sob silently before whispering, "I know."

Harry felt Ginny's hands wrap around his and gently pull them away from his face. He did not look up. He could not look at her.  
"Then don't, Harry," She said suddenly. Harry lifted his head slightly at her pleading words. He felt the tears start to fall down his face. He had tried so hard to be strong, but he couldn't do it anymore. He needed to see her. He needed to feel her hope. "Stop running away. We need you." At those words, he felt a weight lift from his chest. Harry looked up into Ginny's eyes. Their souls locked as she reached out a finger and gently brushed his tears aside. "I need you," she whispered.

"I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to leave Ron, Hermione or your family." said Harry. He lowered his head again. He could not bear the thought of being alone anymore. He did not know how to make her understand. He felt his hands start to tremble as he looked up. He was on the verge of completely breaking now, and as he fought back the tears again the corners of his mouth quivered. He stared deeply at Ginny. They sank into each other's eyes. "Or you," he whispered. As he said those words, he felt a brief glimmer of hope. The look in her eyes surrounded him. As he felt himself start to smile inside, the words he could not bring himself to say started forming in his mind. A wave of despair surged over him like he had never felt before. "I don't want to…" he started to say, but the words stuck in his throat. He was so scared. "I don't…" he started again, in a soft whisper this time. I don't want to die, were the words that formed in his mind.

"Come on, Harry. You're going to be fine. You'll make it through this," said Ginny nervously. He watched as she crawled behind him. He felt her hands grip his shoulders. A calm relaxing feeling suddenly overcame him. Out of the corner of his tear filled eye, he could see her leaning in towards him. He felt her breath on his neck as she said "You're the boy who lived. Remember?"

Slowly Harry turned his head to face Ginny. Their faces were only inches apart now. She didn't understand, he thought. The fright he felt was almost unbearable. He looked into her eyes and willed her to understand. After this was all over, one of them, either he or Voldemort would have to be dead. Harry watched as Ginny's weak smile faded. One of us will have to die, he said to himself. He said out loud in a calm cold voice, "So is Tom Riddle." As the words escaped his lips, he felt all of his barriers come crashing down. The look of fright and recognition he saw in Ginny's eyes shattered his heart into a million pieces.

Ginny felt Harry break under her touch. Her heart broke into a million pieces as she felt the release. Wave after painful wave of despair slammed into her. She tried to hold him, but he just pushed her away.

He felt his body go numb. The pain he felt at that moment was more than he could endure. His tears flowed freely now and burned his cheeks as they fell. He willed himself to look up at Ginny. Their eyes met. "Ginny..." he said. He wanted to say more, but he could not find the breath to do so. He tried to stand, but he fell painfully back to the floor. He felt his glasses leave his face as his head dropped. He sat back on his knees and drew his arm across his eyes to clear away the tears, but they kept coming. He couldn't stop. He felt his entire body sobbing. He fumbled around on hands and knees trying to find his glasses. He finally found them and managed to get them on his face. Somehow he got to his feet and staggered towards the stairs. 

"Harry," Ginny called as she got to her feet. Her legs burned from the awkward way she had been sitting, and almost gave out when she stood up. Shaking her head slightly, she hurried after him.

When she reached the stairs, she heard the bathroom door close. Slowly, she made her way up to the top and stopped in front of the door. She raised her hand to knock, but withdrew it quickly when she heard Harry wretch. Loudly, painfully, over and over, she heard his stomach try to empty itself.

On the other side of the door, Harry was gripping his hair, and his eyes were swollen shut with tears as he convulsed "I!" he said in his head as he wretched. "Don't!" he shouted to himself as he wretched again. "Want!" he yelled inside even louder as his stomach continued to empty. "To die!" screamed his soul as everything went black.

Ginny felt herself wincing inside with each agonizing heave. She fell back against the wall, wrapping her arms tightly against her chest. Her eyes filled with tears. As they fell down her cheeks, her legs buckled. She began sliding, following her tears to the floor. "Oh, Harry…" she said hoarsely, in barely even a whisper.

Minutes later, Ginny heard soft footsteps approaching. She rubbed her eyes on her shirt, and ran her sleeve across her nose. With a loud sniff, she took a deep breath and sat up with her back against the wall, and her arms were wrapped around her legs. She was still weeping silently and tearlessly, though her body was not shaking as badly as it had been. She was scared to see Harry like that. He had been broken, and she had broken with him. She could not bring herself to go inside and see him because she was afraid of what she would see.

"Ginny?" came a soft whisper beside her.

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She blinked her eyes several times, and with each blink the tears stung a little less. She turned her head and saw Ron sitting next to her. Ginny did not speak as he gathered her into his arms. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, still shaking slightly.

"Ginny, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked in a soothing voice.

"It was awful. He is so upset." she responded blankly trying not to cry again.

Just then, there was a soft groan followed by a loud crash in the bathroom. "What was that?" asked Ron as he stood to open the door.

"Ron, don't. It's Harry. He's in there," pleaded Ginny, knowing that Harry just wanted to be left alone for a while.

Ron ignored her and turned the door handle. The sight that greeted Ron as he stepped into the bathroom made his heart jump, then fall. Harry was on his knees in front of the toilet. One arm was wrapped around the bowl as he reached for the handle with the other. His black hair was matted with sweat. A broken vase lay next to him. He was moaning softly as he turned his head towards Ron. His eyes were nearly swollen shut.

"Get out, Ron," he said weakly.

Ron just stood there staring. He was afraid; he had never seen Harry like this before.

"Ron, just get out. I'll be fine," said Harry again, this time in a more composed voice.

"What's wrong?" came Mrs. Weasley's voice from out in the hall.

"It's Harry, Mum…" was all Ginny managed to say as Mrs. Weasley rushed past Ron, who was still standing in the doorway, and into the bathroom. She immediately went over to Harry and put a calming hand on his back.

"Harry dear. What's wrong?" she asked in a soothing voice.

Harry just sat there staring into the toilet. His shoulders were still jerking slightly as he continued to weep. He shook his head slowly from side to side

"Harry, everything is going to be all right." whispered Mrs. Weasley as she continued to rub his back. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Mrs. Weasley gently put her hands under Harry's arms and helped him to his feet. Harry immediately wrapped his arms around himself as he began to move slowly towards the door.

"Ginny, what's happened?" asked Mr. Weasley as he came down the stairs an knelt beside Ginny. 

Ginny's face broke into a small smile as she chuckled a bit. She was feeling overwhelmed by the commotion around her. She wanted nothing more than to go to her room, curl up under her covers and forget everything about this night. She had tears trickling down her face again as she looked up at her father and said "It's Harry, Dad. He's really scared."

As Mr. Weasley stood up, Ron backed out of the bathroom and stood next to him, leaving Harry and Mrs. Weasley alone. Mr. Weasley bent down and took Ginny's hands from around her legs and helped her to her feet. Once she was standing, he wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried.

"Ginny, what happened?" asked Fred, yawning as he ran down the stairs into the already crowded hallway.

"What happened Ginny? What did you do?" asked George in a tired voice as he trailed behind Fred.

Ginny let go of her father, turned her back to the bathroom and faced everyone. She was irritated that they all seemed to think that she had all the answers, that this was some how her fault. She had no idea what had happened. All she knew was that Harry was hurting, and she wanted to make him feel better. She was unable to hide the agitation in her voice as she said through a sarcastic laugh, "Why are you all asking me? I didn't do anything. Harry just freaked out, okay?"

"Ginny!" said Mrs. Weasley in a stern voice.

Ginny turned around and her heart sank as she saw Harry standing right behind her. The look in his eyes showed the betrayal he felt at her words. Ginny's voice caught in her throat as she said "Harry, I'm so sorry." 

She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. She could not think of anything to say to take away the hurt her words had obviously caused, so she looked into his eyes hoping he would see the apology she could not utter. Harry's eyes filled with tears and Ginny's bottom lip began to quiver as he looked away from her.

Mrs. Weasley wrapped her arm around his shoulder as he started to tremble slightly. "Shh. It's okay, Harry." she said as she started to lead him towards the stairs leading to his room.

"Why are you all standing here staring at him? Can't you all just let him be?" shouted Ginny. All eyes in the hall were on her except Harry's. He just kept staring at the floor. Ginny's hands flew to her face to cover the tears that began flowing again. Her head and shoulders heaved forward as she let out a melodramatic sob. With one last glance at Harry, she took off running down the hall to her room. 

"Well, off to bed! The whole lot of you!" said Mrs. Weasley with a wave of her hand as she guided Harry to the stairs up to his room.

Ginny ran down the hall, threw open the door to her room, and slammed it as hard as she could. She threw herself face first onto her bed and screamed as loud as she could into her pillow. She began kicking and screaming in frustration. After a while, she stopped and sat up. She went over to her mirror and the sight that greeted her made her laugh. Her hair was a knotted mess, and her face was red and splotchy with tearstains all over it. She tried to run her fingers through her hair but gave up with a great heaving sigh. 

"You really screwed that up, Weasley," she said out loud to her mirror.

Mrs. Weasley helped Harry up the stairs, talking softly to him the whole way. Ron followed a few steps behind. When they got to the boys' room, she took him over to his bed. Harry crawled under the covers, and Mrs. Weasley tucked them in around his neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "When you're ready to talk…" she began.

Harry interrupted her. "I'm fine. I'm just tired," he said.

"Of course you are, dear. Arthur and I are here for you, Harry." she said softly. 

"I'm fine. Really." he said with a smile and a short chuckle as he saw Ron standing in the door rolling his eyes and smiling.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at back at him and said, "Good night Harry. Try and sleep well,okay?"

Harry nodded and yawned. Mrs. Weasley smiled again and left the room. Ron stepped aside as she left then went to his bed, sat down and stared at Harry. He just kept staring until finally Harry asked "What?" 

"What?" said Ron loudly. "What?" he repeated.

"What?" said Harry through a laughing smile.

Ron broke into a smile and shook his head as he asked, "You really had me worried down there, mate. I've never seen you like that. What was going on with you and Ginny?"

"Nothing. We were talking about…" Harry paused briefly before continuing, "things."

"Things, huh?" said Ron skeptically.

"Yeah. Things. Look, I don't really want to talk about it anymore. I'm back to being normal Harry," he said, trying to convince himself as much as Ron.

"Now there's a scary thought. Normal Harry," quipped Ron with a smile.

Harry smiled back and snuggled deeper into his bed. He pulled the covers Mrs. Weasley had wrapped around his neck even tighter. With a loud yawn, he gave Ron one last look before closing his eyes.

Ron sat on the edge of his bed staring at Harry. After a bit, he hung his head and sniffed as he shook it from side to side. He put his hands on his bed, pushed himself up and walked over to the door and closed it before climbing into his own bed.

Ginny walked away from her mirror and sat down on the edge of her bed. She looked up at the ceiling and let herself fall backwards with open arms. She lay there staring for a while, thinking about the events of the night. She had never seen Harry like that before. She was scared for him. There was something inside him that terrified him. She knew it was much deeper than what had happened to Sirius, but she had no idea what it was. I can help him if he'd only let me, she thought. 

Slowly, Ginny got up and went over to her window. She looked out across the field towards the village. The few lights that were on left a soft glow above the woods that surrounded it. She moved the latch, opened the window and stuck her head out. The night air was cooler than it had been, and she breathed deeply as she stared up at the stars. There were so many of them,she thought. They just hung there so peacefully. Harry was her friend, and she vowed to help him find the same peace.

Her thoughts drifted as she closed the window and walked over to her bed. She climbed in and had just pulled the covers over her head when there was a knock at her door. 

"What?" she said in a singsong voice.

"Ginny?" replied Mr. Weasley.

"Yeah, Dad?" she replied. 

The door opened and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped through it. 

"Are you all right, sweetie?" said Mrs. Weasley in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, Mum. I'm just tired and I want to go to sleep," she whined.

"I know you're worried about Harry, but he's going to be all right. We're all here for him," said Mr. Weasley reassuringly.

"Do you need anything?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah. I need some sleep!" said Ginny with an agitated smile.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley moved over to her bed and each kissed her on the cheek. "Good night, dear," said Mrs. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley let out a sigh and said, "Try and sleep well." He put his arm around Mrs. Weasley. "Come on, Molly." They left the room and closed the door behind them. 

Just as Ginny was drifting off to sleep, she heard another soft knock at her door. "What?" she said in an exasperated voice as her eyes shot open.

Her door opened slowly. "Are you decent?" asked Harry as he poked his head around the door. 

"No I'm tired!" said Ginny with a laugh. "I want to go to sleep!" she whined as she kicked under her covers. 

Harry opened the door all the way, smiled at her and walked over to her bed. "I'll just make this quick." he said as he squatted down so his face was just inches from hers. "You were wrong, you know."

Ginny just stared at him. He came down here and woke me up just to tell me I was wrong about something she thought. "What?" she said as she squinted her eyes. 

"Yeah. You said I wanted to be left alone," he said. Harry looked into Ginny's eyes and held her gaze for a moment before finishing. "I don't ever want to be alone again," he said softly. His eyes lingered on her for a moment as he memorized every freckle, every line, every curve of her face. He stood up and walked out the door without saying another word.

As her door closed behind Harry, she let out the breath she had been holding. In that moment, she had memorized every speck in his green eyes, the outline of his lips, the curve of his chin. She smiled to herself. He was going to be all right, she thought, as she felt a peaceful sleep come over her.

Harry walked deliberately back down the stairs and grabbed his wand from where he had left it on the kitchen table. He paused and looked around the dimly lit room. The bluebell flame in the living room was still lit and cast a cool blue glow over everything, and the lines on Harry's face sharpened as he set his jaw and made his way out the back door. He walked down the steps and continued walking into the night without looking back.

Harry walked quickly away from the house as many different thoughts flew through is head. How could he have lost control like that? How was he going to keep his friends safe when he couldn't even keep himself safe?

A distant howling noise snapped him out of his pensiveness and he said "Oh, shut up!" to whatever it was that had called out.

He stopped and stood with his hands on his hips and threw his head back. His chest was rising and falling with every breath as he turned and looked back at The Burrow. His mind was screaming at him to run. He had the power to keep them safe, to keep her safe, and all he had to do was run, but he knew he couldn't.


	5. Guilt Trip

Tension between Harry and Ginny rises as they deal with the impact of Ginny's words.

Chapter 4: Guilt Trip

Feeling utterly defeated, Harry hung his head and started to walk back to the house. His mind raced and was filled with so many conflicting thoughts. He could not make any sense of them. He continued walking blindly and before he realized it, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led to his room.

He slowly made his way up, and when he reached the door to his and Ron's room, he slowly turned the doorknob. It creaked slightly in response. He eased the door open and looked cautiously inside. Ron was sound asleep. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he opened the door the rest of the way and tiptoed across the room to his bed. His last thoughts as he drifted off to sleep were of the conversation he'd tried to have with Ginny. Why didn't she understand? Why couldn't he bring himself to tell her? Why had things gone so wrong?

Harry awoke later when he felt something hit him in the back. All he could manage to do was groan and roll over onto his side. The covers were wrapped tightly around him from tossing and turning, and he felt his arm stick to his side as he tried to roll onto his stomach.

He was breathing irregularly, his head hurt, and thoughts were drifting wildly through his head. He had tried to tell Ginny about the prophecy but he couldn't get the words out. He was afraid, and when she had told everyone that he had freaked out, he felt his insides fall, and he'd wanted to run away.

"Harry," came a hissing whisper.

Harry felt himself wake a bit as he said, "Huh? Who's it…", but when he didn't hear anything else, he rolled himself onto his back and drifted off to sleep again.

A little while later there was a whisper in his ear. "Harry." 

Harry jumped awake and hit his head on something hard. Reaching up to the spot where his head had connected, he opened his eyes and found himself staring at Ron. His eyes opened even wider as he said, "What the hell are you doing, Ron?"

Ron was rubbing his eye where Harry's head had hit it. "Are you all right?" he said in an irritated voice. "You were moaning really loudly and I thought something was wrong."

"I'm fine, Ron." said Harry shortly as he untangled himself from his covers.

Ron's mouth turned down and he shook his head slightly. "Well then, be 'fine' a bit more quietly so I can sleep," he said sharply.

Harry just shrugged his shoulder roughly and didn't say a word as Ron plodded back to bed. He stopped for a moment and glanced over at Harry's form. Seeing Harry like this always made him feel awful because he never knew what to do to help him. He saw Harry begin to toss and turn a bit as he climbed into bed. With one last look at Harry, Ron sighed wearily as he pulled the covers up over his head.

Minutes or hours passed before Ron woke up again. He was not sure what woke him up, but when he opened his eyes, he saw sunlight leaking around the closed curtains and, as hard as he tried, he could not get comfortable enough to go back to sleep. He laid in his bed for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust to the light. An enormous yawn escaped his mouth and he heard Harry's ragged breathing in the bed next to him. When he looked over at him, he saw that Harry was tangled up in his covers again.

Ron just shook his head and with a loud sigh, he forced himself out of bed. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he walked across the room to his cupboard. The floor creaked slightly under his steps, but when he looked back over towards Harry, he could tell that he was still sound asleep.

Quietly he opened the cupboard, took out a baggy old Muggle shirt and put it on. He chuckled to himself as he thought about what Hermione would say about his orange and black striped pajama bottoms and blue and white checked shirt. For someone who prided herself in not getting caught up with things like fashion, she would certainly give him a funny look, he thought.

Hermione's parents were bringing her to The Burrow later that morning, and Ron's insides were churning at the thought. He was both excited and terrified that she would be spending the rest of the summer there. He was not looking forward to the bickering and criticism that was sure to come, but he was happy that he would have some help in figuring out what was wrong with Harry this time. His thoughts continued to linger on Hermione as he walked out the door, closed it softly behind him, and then headed downstairs to the bathroom.

Ginny woke up early the next morning. Her eyes were sore and her head was stuffed up from the crying that had ended only hours before. She was not able to open her eyes immediately as she listened to the muffled sounds of the house around her. There were footsteps on the stairs, followed by the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut. So much for getting into the bathroom, she thought.

She laid in her bed for a while longer, occasionally moving to a slightly different, cooler part when the area she was laying on got warm. She loved feeling the coolness of the sheets on her bare skin. It was very relaxing, and after the night she had had previously, she felt like doing nothing but relaxing all day long.

Slowly, her thoughts began to drift back to the night before. Harry had been so scared. She had never seen him like that before. He had seemed completely terrified when he had tried to tell her what ever it was he couldn't say. She remembered the chilling feeling that crept up her spine when Harry had said the name of Tom Riddle.

Tom Riddle. Harry was the Boy Who Lived, but so was Tom Riddle. She had no idea what he meant by that. It seemed like it was that thought that terrified him the most. She wanted to help him because he was her friend, but how could she when he couldn't even tell her what was wrong? If he wasn't going to tell her what was wrong, maybe there was someone who could. She needed to send a letter right away.

Slowly, Ginny opened her eyes. The paleness of the room filled her eyes. She looked over at her window and saw the streams of light coming through the thread bare drapes. She watched as bits of dust danced in the sunlight as her eyes adjusted. She turned her head away from the window and toward her door.

She looked at it for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly and stretched. Her toes stuck out from under the end of her covers, and with a loud dramatic yawn, she kicked her legs until her covers fell off the end of her bed and into a pile on the floor. Ginny's eyes snapped open as she sat up quickly. Dizziness over came her and she fell back onto her bed. She let out a small giggle as she tried to sit up again.

Once she had her bearings, she stood up and went to her cupboard and pulled out a long button- up shirt. She put it on and went over to her desk and sat down. Ginny just sat there for a moment as she considered what she was going to do. Slowly, she reached for her bottom drawer and opened it. It was empty. She opened the drawer above it and, like the first one, it was empty. After going through all the drawers in her desk and not finding any parchment, she stood up and went over to her dresser.

She opened her top drawer, pulled out some underwear and put it on. With a small sigh, she went back to her cupboard and stood there staring at the old clothes inside. Finally settling on a worn pair of denim shorts and a black tank top, she threw the button up shirt on the floor, got dressed, and headed downstairs.

As she reached the bottom step, she heard a voice.

"Good morning Molly," said Mundungus Fletcher.

Ginny rounded the corner and walked into the kitchen. She looked around and didn't see anyone but her mother. "Where is he?" Ginny said sharply.

"Where is who, dear?" replied Mrs. Weasley as she turned around to look at her daughter.

"Him!" Ginny said as she leveled her finger at the head in the fireplace. Mundungus Fletcher's head was bathed in the soft green glow of the magical fire that burned in the fireplace. His eyes widened slightly as they landed on Ginny. She noticed that his face had turned slightly red, which meant that it had gone very red, but only looked slightly red because of the fire.

Mundungus sputtered for a moment as he tried to speak. Finally he looked away and in a weak voice said, "Hello, Ginny."  
Mrs. Weasley had a confused look on her face as she looked from Mundungus to Ginny and back again. Ginny just shook her head, rolled her eyes and looked up as she let out an exasperated grunt and stalked out of the room. 

"Ginny?" called Mrs. Weasley as she watched her daughter leave the room in a huff.

"I need some parchment, Mum. I have to write a letter." she replied as she dug through the desk in the front room. She tried not to let irritation creep into her voice as she answered.

As soon as she found what she was looking for, she headed back to the stairs through the living room so she could avoid seeing Mundungus again. That Patronus joke he had told a few weeks ago was not funny at all, she thought as the corners of her mouth raised slightly.

She hurried back up the stairs and into her room. As soon as she was through the door, she kicked it shut behind her and flew across the room to her desk. She ripped open the middle drawer and pulled out her favorite quill and a bottle of dark blue ink. The bottle squeaked slightly as she opened it. She stuck the end of her quill in, then pulled it out slowly and began to write. The quill made a scratching noise on the parchment, but no writing appeared.

"Arrrggghhh." she screamed as she looked down into the empty ink bottle. Dreading the thought of going back downstairs right now, she got up from the desk and walked over to her bed. She bent down, pulled a box out from under it, and rummaged around for a second before she withdrew a small red bottle that had tiny silver stars all over it.

She rubbed her head with one hand as she walked back to her desk. After she sat down, she carefully capped the empty bottle and put it back into the drawer. Ginny placed the red bottle next to the parchment and opened it. She picked up her quill, dipped it into the bottle and looked at it to make sure there was ink on it before putting it to the parchment.

"Dear Professor Dumbledore," she began. The parchment turned from light brown to a light red colour as she wrote, and by the time she was finished, it was a deep blood red. She hurriedly folded the parchment up, put it her shorts pocket and ran up the stairs to Ron and Harry's room.

"Ron!" she screamed as she approached the door. When there was no answer, she knocked on it and shouted again, "Ron!"

After a little while, the door slowly opened from the inside. Ginny saw a mop of messy black hair appear from around the corner, and she found herself looking into a pair of weary green eyes. They were bloodshot and barely open. Harry opened the door for her and with a wave of his hand, he beckoned her in. "Hey," was all he managed to croak as he walked back over to his bed.

Ginny quickly surveyed the room and when she did not see Ron, she asked, "Have you seen Ron?"

"Un uh." Harry grunted as he climbed back under his covers and rolled over with his back towards Ginny.

"Hey, are you all right?" she asked softly as she walked over to Harry's bed.

"Uh huh," he responded as he shifted himself deeper into his bed.

"Harry…" she began.

"Ginny, just go before I freak out again." he said quietly without moving.

Ginny's heart fell as she thought back to her careless statement from the night before. She had not known he was standing right behind her, and she had been very agitated when she said it. "Harry, I'm so sorry."

"I know." he mumbled as he drew the covers completely over his head.

Ginny lowered her head dejectedly and trudged out of the room. She closed the door a little harder than she had originally intended to, but the thought of what Harry was going to be like for a while left her sad but irritated. He was going to shut himself away, and be very short tempered to anyone who tried to talk to him, as she had already seen.

She walked slowly towards the stairs with her head down, desperately trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. As she approached the top step, she stopped and took a deep breath. Clenching her hands, she slowly exhaled and lifted her head just in time to see Ron walking up the stairs towards her in nothing but a towel. His face was red from the heat of the shower and water was still dripping from his hair and running down his bare chest.

"Ron!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Ginny!" said Ron at exactly the same time, as he fumbled to tighten the towel around his waist.

"Ron, can I borrow Pigwigeon?" she asked.

"No!" replied Ron without looking at her as he continued walking up the stairs.

"Ron, I need to borrow Pigwidgeon, it's an emergency!" said Ginny as she stepped aside to let her brother pass.

"You can't Ginny." said Ron flatly.

"It's an emergency Ron!" she whined. "I have to send a letter. It's about Harry!"

Ron stopped and turned to face her. "Oh, so you've noticed too, huh?" he said.

"Yeah." she said quickly. "Now can I borrow Pigwidgeon?"  
"No! Hermione has him. Or at least I think she does. I sent her a letter yesterday," said Ron nervously as his eyes darted around Ginny.

Ginny's eyes opened slightly wider in a look of recognition, as she stared at Ron. "Oh." she said slowly.

"Oh what?" snapped Ron as he finally looked at Ginny. Ginny was looking at him with an intense stare, as if she was trying to read him. "Sheesh," he said as he noticed the look Ginny was giving him. He shook his head and turned around and walked up the stairs, leaving an amused Ginny still staring up at him.

Ginny walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Not seeing her mother, she called, "Mum?" 

"Good morning, Ginny. You're up early, I suspect." came the voice of Remus Lupin.

Ginny's face brightened as she walked over to Remus and gave him a hug. "Hi Professor Lupin! What are you doing here?"

Mr. Weasley's voice chimed in from around the corner. "She's up already?"

"Dad?" Ginny said with a confused look on her face as she looked around the corner at her father. "You're not at work?"

"No. Taking the day off!" said Mr. Weasley as he walked into the kitchen. "Remus and I have some things we need to go over that. . .well we can't really talk at The Ministry. You know."

"Have you seen Mum?" asked Ginny.

"She was going out into the garden, the last I saw," said Remus.

"Thanks!" replied Ginny as she darted towards the back door. Just as she was about to open it, she turned and said, "Good to see you again, Professor!" and with that she left.

"Mum!" Ginny called loudly.

"Over here dear, and don't shout. You don't want to wake the whole house," came Mrs. Weasley's reply from the other side of the garden.

Ginny walked over to where her mother was sitting. Mrs. Weasley was sitting beside the small pond with her feet dangling lazily in the water, reading a book. She put the book down as she watched Ginny hurrying over to her.

"What is it?" Mrs. Weasley asked.  
"Mum, where is Errol?" Ginny asked. "I need to send an owl right away, and Pig is with Hermione."

"Oh?" said Mrs. Weasley with a curious look on her face that disappeared almost immediately. "I'm not sure where Errol is, truth be told. Possibly away on Order business."

"Arrrggghhh!" yelled Ginny as she turned on her heel and stomped back towards the house.

Ginny stormed dramatically up the stairs and back into the house. Her jaw was set and her brow was furrowed as she desperately tried to think of a way to get her letter to Dumbledore. Her face brightened a bit as she thought about using Hedwig. The irony of that last resort was not lost on her.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" asked Remus as Ginny stomped into the kitchen. 

"You wouldn't happen to have an owl here, would you Professor?" asked Ginny in a frustrated voice.

"Well, let me see," began Lupin as he opened his robes and began searching them. "It doesn't look like it," he finished with a grin.

Ginny couldn't help but grin back as she said, "Thanks."

"You have a letter to send?" he asked politely.

"Umm..yeah," Ginny replied with a slight hint of sarcasm. Why else would I be looking for an owl? she thought to herself.

"Dad!" Ginny called as she looked around and didn't see her father anywhere.

"He had to go to his office for something. He'll be back shortly," said Lupin as he moved over to the stove and poured himself another cup of tea. "Care for a cup?"

"No. Is there any coffee?" she asked as she moved over next to Remus, looking for coffee.

"I don't think anyone made any. Would you like me to make some for you?" offered Lupin.

"Sure," replied Ginny as she lifted herself up onto the counter and sat down. She folded her legs underneath herself and mumbled, "And I thought he was taking the day off."

"Oh, he'll be back soon," said Remus as he drew out his wand and inserted it into a kettle that was on the stove. He began slowly stirring as he continued, "He just had to grab some papers. There is going to be a hearing about the fate of Grimmauld Place. I probably shouldn't tell you this…"  
"Tell her what?" came Ron's voice from over by the stairs. "Hi, Professor Lupin," he added quickly.

"Hello Ron." Lupin replied as he turned to face Ron. He continued stirring slowly and evenly and said "I was just telling Ginny here that there has apparently been a claim laid against the will that Sirius left."

Ginny winced inside at the mention of Sirius' name. She was still very bothered by his death, and seeing Harry so torn up about it made hearing his name even more painful. She was slightly relieved to see that Lupin was able to at least talk about it openly. Sirius had been his best friend since their first year together at Hogwarts, and his death had been especially painful for Remus.

"That's all I can say right now," continued Lupin. He stopped stirring the kettle and poured some into a cup. "Milk or sugar?" he asked Ginny as he handed her the cup.

Ginny just shook her head as she took the cup from him and cradled it in her hands. She blew across the top of the cup and watched the steam billow upwards as she waited for Remus to continue.

"There hasn't officially been any notification that Sirius even left a will," said Remus, as he closed his eyes tightly. He turned blindly towards Ron and asked, "Would you like a cup, Ron?"

Ron shook his head and moved over to stand next to Ginny as he whispered, "No thank you."

Lupin opened his eyes, and they had gone bloodshot. "But I know he did, because I was the one who talked him into it. Somehow, the news got out…"

"Kreacher, you mean," interrupted Ron.

Lupin took a deep breath and slowly shook his head. "Somehow," he said forcefully, but quietly, looking at Ron. "The news got out and it has been challenged." Remus' hands trembled as he sat his cup of tea down on the counter. "That's all I can say right now. I suppose he would have wanted you to know as much."

There was a loud noise in the room behind Lupin and he jumped slightly. He turned just in time to see Mr. Weasley walking in. "Good, Arthur. You're back. Let's get to work." he said jovially, then turning back to Ron and Ginny he said with a huge knowing smile, "I'll talk to you two later. It's Harry's birthday today, isn't it?"

Ginny's face went slack at the mention of Harry's birthday. "Yeah it is," was all she could say in a very soft voice.

Remus appeared not to notice the sudden change on Ginny's face as he and Mr. Weasley left the room. A second later, Lupin popped his head around the corner and asked, "So how was the coffee?"   
"Best I ever had!" replied Ginny with a smile as Lupin's head disappeared back around the wall. She continued to sit on the counter as Ron moved away from her and sat down at the table. 

"I'm starving," he said.

"Well, then get up and make yourself something!" snapped Ginny as she hopped down from her perch and walked towards the stairs.

Ron just stared at her as she walked away. Once she was around the corner, he got up and went to the cabinet. He pulled out a bowl, then went and got a box of Chocolate Frosted Toady-O's and sat back down at the table. He filled his bowl and realized he didn't have any silverware or milk, so with a shrug, he picked up a handful and tossed them into his mouth.

Ginny walked up the stairs to the boys' room. She stopped outside the door for a second, and then took a deep breath as she knocked. She was worried about the reaction she would get from Harry if she woke him up. She smiled inwardly to herself as she thought about how she was going to be using Hedwig to send a letter about him. The irony almost made her laugh out loud.

There was no answer, so she knocked again and waited patiently. When there was still no answer, she turned the handle slowly and carefully, and it let out a creak as it turned. She opened the door and peered into the dimly lit room. She saw the top of Harry's head peeking out from under his blankets, and she couldn't help but smile. He looked so peaceful.

She quickly looked around the room, but did not see Hedwig's cage anywhere. She was about to walk over to the window when Harry stirred. Ginny's heart raced as she froze in place. Silently she willed him back to sleep, and let out a small sigh when he did not move any more.

Slowly she made her way out the door and closed it carefully behind her. She pulled the letter out of her pocket and read it again as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ron looked up at her as she walked in and sat down. She folded the letter up and put it back into her pocket.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she replied as she reached for the box of Toady-O's.

Ron grabbed the box out of her reach and with a grin, he asked again "Come on, what was that?"

"Nothing, Ron. Now give me the cereal!" she demanded.

Ron slid the box across the table to her, and with a smirk on his face, he watched as she reached her hand down inside the empty box. "It's all gone." he said triumphantly.

"What's all gone?" came Mrs. Weasley's voice from over by the door. She had just walked back inside the house, and was bent over as she took off her shoes.

"Oh, Ron ate all of the Toady-O's" said Ginny as she looked over at her mother.

"They were almost all gone anyway," he said defensively.

Just then, a large brown owl swooped in through the open door right over Mrs. Weasley's ducked head. The owl flew once around the room and finally landed on the table in front of Ginny. She immediately recognized it as a delivery owl for the Daily Prophet. With a confused look on her face, she removed the newspaper. They had not received the Daily Prophet for nearly a year now, ever since the smear campaign they leveled against Harry.

"Mum?" Ginny asked with a quizzical look on her face.

Mrs. Weasley stood up quickly and looked just as confused as Ginny and she shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "I don't know." 

"It's probably Hermione's. She said she would be getting the paper sent here when she came. She paid for a whole year." Ron chimed in almost immediately as he stood up and took his empty bowl over to the sink.

Ginny removed the newspaper from the owl's leg, and, with sudden inspiration, removed the red letter from her pocket and tried to tie it to the owls leg. The owl struggled and pecked and clawed at her hands. Ginny just held on tightly and finally was able to get it tied. Her hands were scratched and bleeding in a couple of places as she picked up the owl. She took it over to the door and said "Dumbledore" as she threw the owl into the air.

Ginny watched the owl fly off into the blue sky and then turned back towards the kitchen. Ron and her mother were both sitting at the table talking as Ginny walked over to them. Just as she sat down, her father and Remus walked back into the room. 

"Was that a Ministry owl?" asked Mr. Weasly eagerly.

"No, it was The Daily Prophet," answered Ron as Lupin walked over to the table and sat down.

"Hmph," grunted Mr. Weasley with a thoughtful look on his face. He paused for a moment before turning towards Mrs. Weasley. "Molly, when are Tonks and Moody going to be here?"

"Tonks said she'd be here later this morning, and I haven't heard from Alastor," replied Mrs. Weasley. "Mundungus popped in this morning." 

"Oh?" said Mr. Weasley. "What did he want?" 

"Wanted to know how the move was going," replied Mrs. Weasley as she sat down next to Remus.  
Ginny and Ron gave each other a curious glance, and Ron slowly asked, "Who's moving?"

Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Lupin all looked at each other with concerned looks, and after an awkward moment, Remus finally spoke. "Well, remember what I was saying earlier?" 

"Remus!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley.

"What, Molly?" he replied.

"Molly," said Mr. Weasley. 

"What, Arthur?" snapped Mrs. Weasley as she looked up at her husband. "I thought things might be different…" she paused for a second and took a deep breath before continuing in a much calmer voice,"after what happened."

Ron shifted uncomfortably on his chair, and Ginny sat motionless with her ears glued to every word that was being said. They looked at each other with wide eyes, both not sure what exactly it was that they were hearing.

"I think they should be too, Molly," said Remus in his soft and steady voice. "They need to know." 

"Now you're starting to sound like HIM," spat Mrs. Weasley. She clamped her hand over her mouth as soon as the words had left it. Remus looked like he had been slapped across the face, and Mr. Weasley's jaw dropped. Both men knew immediately that she had been referring to Sirius. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just don't want our children in any more danger."

"Mum, we're already in danger," said Ginny.

"Danger from what?" came Harry's voice.

Everybody turned and stared at him. Ginny's eyes widened a bit, and her face blushed slightly as she saw him leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. His shirtless chest was rising and falling slowly as he rubbed his eye with one hand and ran his other through his hair. His eyes were puffy and bruised from crying and lack of sleep. He let out a big yawn and said in a rather rude way, "Well, don't stop talking on my account."

"Harry, dear!" said Mrs. Weasley as she stood up and hurried over to him. She took him into her arms, and he did not resist.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," he said with a sigh.

"Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you some breakfast?" she offered.  
"No thanks. I'm not hungry," he said flatly.

When Mrs. Weasley let go of him, Remus stood up and said, "Hello, Harry. Come sit down. You look terrible."

Harry smiled weakly and said, "Thanks, Professor Lupin. I needed that." as he walked over towards the table.

Ginny watched as Harry pulled out a chair and put his head down on the table. He looked up briefly and their eyes met. Ginny could see the pain he was in. He was hurting inside, but there was more. She saw disappointment that she knew was directed at her. She had not understood what he was trying to tell her the night before, and she desperately wanted to. That was why she had just sent that letter off to Dumbledore. She hoped for a quick reply as she watched Harry's eyes glaze over and look away from her.

"Harry," she began. He looked up at the sound of her voice. For a brief instant, Ginny thought she saw a glimmer of happiness, but as soon as she saw it, it disappeared. The look in his eyes made her voice choke in her throat and she did not finish her thought.

"Come on Arthur, we have a lot to get done before the others get her,." said Lupin as he stood. A knowing glance passed between Remus and Molly as he started walking out of the room, but he paused long enough to give Harry's shoulder a caring squeeze. Harry's shoulder tensed and withdrew from the touch, and he didn't look up.

"We'll talk more about this later, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley in a cool tone as she stood and walked towards the back door.

Harry's face wore a very sarcastic expression as he lifted his head and watched the adults leave the room. "So what was that all about?" he asked.

"Not sure really," answered Ron. "They said something about a move or something."

"Do you know what else Professor Lupin told us?" asked Ginny.

Harry did not meet her gaze as he said in a bitter voice, "What?" 

"Harry, would you stop it?" asked Ginny in an agitated voice.

Harry stared directly into Ginny's eyes as he replied, "Stop what?"

"Stop acting like this," she said as she held his gaze.

"Like what?" he shot back.

Ron stood up and said "Oh come on, you two. You're acting like me and Hermione."  
Both Ginny and Harry looked up at Ron and then back at each other. Harry watched Ginny bite her upper lip before she spoke. Taking a deep breath, she said, "He told us that Sirius left a will and there is someone challenging it." 

Harry put his elbows onto the table. "He shouldn't have had to leave a will," said Harry as he lowered his chin into his hands.

Ron was rocking nervously on his heels as Harry spoke. As soon as Harry finished his sentence, Ron said, "You want to go fly a bit before Hermione gets here? She's not supposed to get here until half noon or so."

At the mention of Hermione's name, Harry let his head slip through his hands and it hit the table softly. He hit his head on the table three more times before looking up at Ginny and Ron. They were both looking at him with confused amusement.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but shut it almost immediately.

"What?" Harry said sheepishly as a small grin crept across his face.

Ginny started laughing. She found his reaction amusing as she thought about what he must be thinking. She knew that Hermione had been worried about Harry and how he was dealing with the events at the Department of Mysteries, and would probably try to talk to him about it as soon as she arrived. She also knew from her experience the night before, that Harry would not be in the mood to talk about it.

Harry's knitted his brow and said "What?" again with fake indignation. "It's just that…" he began, but then stopped as he re though what he was about to say. He was not in the mood to hear Hermione lecture him about his behavior. He knew she cared for him very deeply, and was worried, but he did not feel like opening up to her. Besides, he thought, she had other people to worry about, even if they didn't know it yet.

Ron watched Harry for a moment and then leaned forward slightly and asked "What?" 

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and said "Oh, nothing. Yeah, let's go fly for a bit"

Ron's face brightened. "Great! Let's go." he said as he stood up and headed towards the stairs to get his broom.

"Harry," Ginny said softly as Harry stood up.

Harry turned back towards Ginny. He felt a sudden surge of embarrassment as he looked into her eyes. She was the only one who knew exactly what had happened the night before. He was content that she was the one he had tried to share his torment with, but things had gone wrong. He had been unable to tell her what he had needed to, and she had not understood.  
He saw the depth of concern in her eyes, but was scared of what she thought of his vulnerability. Her words as he had left the hallway had pierced him more deeply than he had thought. He had trusted her to keep his confidence, but instead, she had completely dismissed him with a few careless words. He knew she didn't mean to hurt him. He knew she cared, perhaps more deeply than any of his friends, but his thoughts did not ease the pain her words had caused.

"Harry," Ginny said again. The torture she saw in his eyes made her wince. She knew she had hurt him with her careless words. She lowered her head as she tried to think of the words she could say that would make everything better.

Harry watched her for a moment as she sat there wringing her hands with her head lowered. She was biting her lower lip as she pulled her hair back behind her ears. He could see that she wanted to talk, but he was not sure that he wanted to listen, so he said, "Ginny," and then paused.

Ginny raised her chocolate eyes and met his gaze while she waited for him to continue. Her hair came out from behind her left ear, and she nervously tried to put it back. "I'm going to go fly, okay?" he said finally, then he turned and walked slowly upstairs to get his Firebolt.

Harry headed upstairs and into his room. Ron was over by his desk looking at something as he walked in. The closet that Harry kept his Firebolt in was already open, and his prized broom was leaning against the back wall. He couldn't see what Ron was looking at so he walked over and got his broom and headed to the door.

"You ready?" Harry said enthusiastically as he stood by the door.

"Yeah. Just a second." replied Ron as he folded up a piece of parchment, and put it back in the top drawer of the desk.

Ron walked over to his cupboard and grabbed his Clean Sweep. He was smiling as he saw Harry bouncing anxiously by the door. Together, the boys headed down the stairs. Harry noticed that Ginny had left as they walked out the back door and into the garden.

Ginny pursed her lips as she watched Harry walk away from her. As soon as he was out of sight, she went upstairs to her room, closed the door behind her and locked it. Secretly she hoped Harry would come and find her. She wanted to talk to him about the night before and apologize for her offhand remark, but she could tell he was not at all interested in hearing it.

Her cupboard was slightly open as she approached it. She opened it the rest of the way, and slid a few of her shirts aside until she came to a brand new men's shirt. She carefully took it off its hanger and walked over to her desk and put it down before heading back to her closet.

The shirt was light blue with black pin stripes down the left side. There was no collar and there was a long zipper up the neck. She held the short sleeve shirt up and looked at it. She had bought it in the village a few days ago, and was really excited about giving it to Harry. She wasn't sure if Harry would like it, but Ian's words had been reassuring. She knew he'd wear it. He'd better, she thought as a smile broke out across her face. It had cost her every Knut she had managed to save over the past several months.

After rummaging through the bottom of her closet for a bit, she pulled out a plain brown box, and went back to her desk. When she got there, she sat down and held up the shirt. She smiled as she folded it, put it in the box, and Spellotaped it shut.

When she had finished, jumped up and put the box in her closet, and headed out her door and down the stairs. She jumped off the bottom step and looked quickly around. The rooms were empty so she decided to head out the back door and into the garden.

"Mum!" Ginny called.

"What, dear?" Mrs. Weasley replied.

"Where are you?" asked Ginny as she scanned the garden. Her eyes finally landed on her mother who was busy digging in a flower bed. She walked over to her. 

"What'd you need?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she sat up and looked at Ginny. The gloves she was wearing were covered in dirt, and she was breathing hard as she reached up and brushed a few stray hairs out of her face.

"Have you seen Fred and George?" asked Ginny.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head and said, "No. I think they are still asleep."

Ginny just laughed and turned back towards the house. Before she could take a step, Mrs. Weasley asked, "Oh, could you go and let the boys know that Hermione will be getting here in less than an hour, and they should be here when she gets here," as she pointed towards the lower garden. "And make sure Fred and George are up too." 

"Okay," said Ginny as she headed back inside the house to wake up the twins.

It was a beautiful day for flying as Ron and Harry walked out the door and headed down towards the lower garden where they could fly safely in the hollow below the tree line. They always had to be careful so that the Muggles from town would not see them.

"Where are you two off to?" called Mrs. Weasley as they walked past her.

"Were going to go fly for a bit before Hermione gets here," Ron replied.   
"Okay, just be careful, and don't be seen." warned Mrs. Weasley.

"We won't, Mum," groaned Ron.

Harry smiled as he waved to Mrs. Weasley. They continued walking and soon they were at the edge of the field. Harry held out his Firebolt and let go. It hovered in midair at just the right height for him to mount. He looked over at Ron who was watching him intently, as he nervously reached out his hand and slid himself onto the broom.

A flood of feelings and emotions overwhelmed Harry as he mounted the broom for the first time in over half a year. He had not been able to fly since he was suspended from the Gryffindor Quidditch team last term. He still did not know if he would be reinstated, but he, along with everyone else, was confident that he would be now that Dolores Umbridge was no longer at Hogwarts.

He watched as Ron mounted his broom and kicked off the ground. Ron took off like a shot and before long, he was circling the far side of the hollow. Harry leaned foreward on his broom, and his firebolt responded to his every command and before long he was right on Ron's tail.

The two boys flew around and chased each other for a while. They practiced some of the moves they had learned during their time playing Quidditch, and from what Harry could tell, Ron had definitely improved in his flying. He hoped that he would continue to do well, as he was most likely going to be the Keeper of the house team, and quite likely he would also be the team captain now that Angelina had left. He had only played one season with them, but Harry didn't know anyone who knew more about the ins and outs of the game, except Oliver Wood.

Finally Harry sat down and called Ron in. "Hey, Ron," he called through the wind.

"Yeah?" said Ron breathlessly as he sat down next to Harry. He wore a huge smile. "Whoa, that was brilliant!"

"You want a go on the Firebolt?" Harry asked as he slid off of his broom.

Ron smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of reverence. He sat there on his broom for a moment with his eyes darting between Harry and the Firebolt. Suddenly he took a deep breath and said quickly, "Yeah, all right." as his grin returned and he dismounted. 

Harry handed the Firebolt to Ron, who took it in his hands like he was handling a newborn baby. He carefully let go of it, and the broom hovered at the perfect height for him. With an awkward kick, Ron hopped on the broom and leaned forward slightly. The broom shot off throwing Ron's head back, and with a loud yelp of surprise and happiness, Ron was hurtling through the air and around the hollow.

Harry watched Ron flying on his Firebolt, but soon his thoughts began to fade back to the night before. He really appreciated the fact that Ron had come in to see him, but felt terribly embarrassed that he had seen him. He smiled as he watched Ron zoom up and down, putting the Firebolt through its paces, and was so engrossed in what he was watching that he did not notice Ginny fly up behind him.

"I'll bet he's loving that!" she said as she landed next to Harry.

Harry jumped slightly and looked over at Ginny. "He's just like a little kid up there on it, isn't he?" he said with a smile.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Mum sent me to get you two. Hermione is going to be here in less than an hour, and she wants you up at the house when she gets here."

Harry just nodded as he walked over and picked up Ron's broom. He felt a rush of wind pass his head, and saw Ginny explode past him. She stopped several yards in front of him and yelled "Oi, Potter. Come get me!"

Harry just laughed and held onto the broom.

"Are you a Seeker or what?" taunted Ginny with a smile.

Harry leapt onto the broom with one fluid motion, kicked off into the air and immediately felt the rush of flight again. As he sped faster along the ground chasing Ginny, the cool air swept through his hair, and for the first time in a long time, he completely forgot about the darkness he had been holding inside.

After a few minutes, they all landed and got off their brooms. Ron handed the Firebolt back to Harry, and Harry gave the Comet back to Ron. Ron took a few steps towards the house, then looked back at the other two. "Come on you lot, Hermione's going to be here soon," he said.

Ginny squatted down and fidgeted with her shoe. "Go on Ron, we'll be there in a minute," she said as she looked up into Harry's eyes. 

Ron looked questioningly between the two of them, but merely shrugged and said ,"Okay. See you in a bit."

When Ron had turned and was several steps away, Ginny sat down on the ground and said, "Harry, we need to talk."

Harry stood there looking down at her for a second before he said, "Your shoe's untied," as he pointed at her untied shoe.

"I know, Harry," she said as she looked at her shoe. Without looking up, she continued, "I'm really sorry about last night. I…"

"Look Ginny, it's okay. You said what you felt, right?" he interrupted coolly  
"Harry, it's not like that. I didn't mean…" said Ginny pleadingly as she looked up at Harry again.

"To say what you said?" he interrupted again. "It's okay. I understand."

"Harry," she began as she stood up. She held up her hand as she saw Harry take a breath to interrupt her again. "Don't interrupt me again." she said as she closed her eyes. When he did not interrupt her, she opened her eyes and continued, "I want to understand what you were trying to tell me last night."

Harry kicked nervously at a rock he was looking at. "Hermione's going to be here soon," was all he said as he turned and left Ginny standing there watching him as he disappeared towards the house.

"Harry!" she called out angrily, but he did not look back.

Harry walked quickly back towards the house. He didn't look back. He knew he would break down if he did. The door to the house was already open as he climbed the steps to the porch. He strode through the door and headed straight for the stairs. Ron called out to him but he ignored it, continuing up the stairs to his room. When he got to the top of the stairs, he heard Ron call again, and again he ignored him and closed the door.


	6. Hermione's Secret

Chapter 5: Hermione's Secret

Ginny watched Harry go. She wanted him to look back, to come back, and let her help him, but deep inside she knew he wouldn't. That was just not in Harry's nature. The scene she had seen the night before was playing again in her head as she walked back towards the house.

Before she had even reached the porch, Ron was coming out the door. "What did you say to him?" he asked.

"Nothing Ron," she said impatiently and with a sigh.

"Well, he just stormed through the house and went up to his room," said Ron.

"Well, in case you didn't already know, that's just Harry," snapped Ginny as she walked past Ron.

Ron followed her into the house. Just as he was about to follow her upstairs, Mr. Weasley and Remus Lupin reappeared. "Are they here yet?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Who?" asked Ron with a confused look on his face.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They were due about now weren't they?" replied Mr. Weasley like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"They'll be here soon Arthur," came the voice of Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen.

As if on cue, they heard a knock on the front door. Ron bolted into the front room followed closely by his father and mother. Ron opened the door and his face brightened as he saw a very tan Hermione standing there.

She squealed in delight when she saw him, "Ron!" she said, and immediately threw out her arms and hugged him quickly.

Ron awkwardly put his arms around her, and much to his relief, she let go quickly. "You are really tan." he said.

"I just got back from Egypt. It was really amazing." she began as Mr. Weasley pushed through the door and greeted Hermione's parents.

Ron grabbed her trunk from the porch and carried it inside while the adults were outside greeting one another.

"This thing is heavy. What do you have in it?" asked Ron.

"Oh. All of my books and things. I already got my books for next term." she explained.

"How did you know what books to get? We haven't gotten our letters yet." asked Ron with a questioning look.

Hermione looked at him and said "I wrote to Professor Dumbledore and he told me. I wanted to get an early start. I am going to have to help Ginny out with her OWL's this year, even though I am sure she will do fine."

"Oh." said Ron sheepishly. "I'd take this upstairs, but I think Ginny's locked herself in her room."

"No I didn't." said Ginny from behind Ron.

"Ginny!" yelled Hermione as she ran up and grabbed onto Ginny and spun around.

"Hermione!" squealed Ginny as she bounced around with her.

Ron just stood there holding onto the trunk and rolled his eyes. "Can I take this up?" he asked.

"No!" said Ginny. "We'll get it."

Ron dropped the trunk and Hermione looked at him and said with a smile "Be careful, there's things in there that can break."

"Oh? Like what?" teased Ron.

"Nothing." sung Hermione as she tossed her head back into a laugh.

Ron hung his head and shook it slowly as he turned and walked out of the room. He walked through the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Granger, his parents, and Lupin were all deep in an animated conversation. They were recounting each of their trips to Egypt, and they were all smiling. Lupin looked over at Ron as he walked through and smiled.

Ginny and Hermione each grabbed a handle on the trunk and carried it up to their room. Once they were inside, they put the trunk at the foot of Hermione's bed, and Ginny ran over and locked the door. She ran back across the room and threw herself onto her bed.

Hermione stood open mouthed and looked around the messy room at the unmade bed, papers scattered on the desk, and dirty clothes piled on the floor. "You are such a slob!" she said with a laugh.

Ginny laughed at the look on Hermione's face. "I know." she said cheerfully.

"You seem awfully happy!" said Hermione with a huge smile. "How are things going?" she asked as she sent a knowing look at Ginny.

"I am so glad you are finally here. I like my family, but it is so nice to have another woman around." said Ginny with a smile.

"Me too. I managed to convince mum and dad that I needed to get back early because you are starting your most crucial year, and you needed my help. I could have stayed in Egypt for the rest of the summer, but truth be told, I really missed you and also wanted to be here for Harry's birthday." said Hermione without taking a breath.

"Ron missed you too I think. He talked about you quite a lot." chided Ginny.

Hermione went red and her smile became softer as she said softly "Oh." Her face quickly cleared as she said, "Where's Harry? He's here right? He was supposed to get here last week. I haven't really heard from him all summer. I wrote him several times, but he never answered. I take that back, he did send me one owl, but it didn't really say very much. Just the old 'Hi. How are you? I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm really grumpy but won't tell you. I'll see you soon. Bye.'"

Ginny's smile faded. "I think he is up in his room." she said before pausing. She took a deep breath and continued "He had a rough night last night."

Hermione's eyes widened a bit as she asked "Oh no. What happened?"

Ginny started wringing her hands as she looked away from Hermione. "Well," she began. Her voice quivered as she began to think back to what had happened the night before. "Harry and I were talking like we had done nearly every night since he got here."

Hermione gave Ginny a quizzical look at which Ginny immediately smiled, and with a slight chuckle, she shook her head and said "No Hermione. Not like that."

"What were you talking about?" asked Hermione seriously.

Ginny stopped wringing her hands and wrapped her arms around herself. "Well, normally, we wouldn't say much of anything. We'd just sit there next to each other and not talk at all." she said. Ginny ignored the look Hermione gave her and continued. "Last night was different though. He really began to open up, but then…" said Ginny before her voice trailed off. She felt tears burning in her eyes, as she closed them tightly to try and fight them back. She had cried too many tears lately, and did not want to shed any more. Slowly she opened her bloodshot eyes and said in a hoarse voice "Oh Hermione, it was awful. I have never seen him like that before."

Hermione moved next to Ginny and pulled her into a sisterly hug. Ginny buried her face in Hermione's neck and the tears fell again. She was sobbing heavily as Hermione just held onto her and ran her hand through her hair in a consoling way. "Shhh…" whispered Hermione. "It's Ok. He'll be Ok."

Ginny and Hermione sat like that for a while until finally Ginny raised her tear streaked face and looked at Hermione. "Do you want to know the worst part?" Ginny asked suddenly through her continuing sobs.

Hermione kept her arm around Ginny and simply nodded.

"Well, when everyone came down to see what was wrong, they all thought I had done something to him, but I didn't!" said Ginny. She choked back another set of tears and continued. "I was really irritated and upset, and when they all asked me what I did, I just snapped at them and said that Harry freaked out!"

Hermione's face took on a questioning look as she shook her head and asked "He didn't hear you say that?" When Ginny did not respond right away, her eyes widened and she asked very slowly "Did he?"

Ginny stood up quickly and walked across the room to the window. She put her hands on the sill, and looked out into the bright blue sky. After a brief moment, she turned quickly to face Hermione and said matter of factly "Yep. He did."

"Oh Ginny." said Hermione in a soft voice. "How did he take it?"

"He is really hurt. I am so sorry I said it. I knew it was wrong the moment it left my mouth, but I was so irritated, and hurt and everything, and it just came out." said Ginny as she looked down.

"Have you told him you were sorry?" asked Hermione as she got up and walked over to where Ginny was.

"I tried Hermione." said Ginny softly as her shoulders slumped. "But he won't listen. I don't know if he is really that hurt, or just wants to make me suffer."

"Harry wouldn't do that to you Ginny." said Hermione reassuringly as she put her arms around Ginny again. "Let me go talk to him ok?"

"I don't think he wants to talk right now, well at least not to me." said Ginny as she began to silently weep.

Hermione led Ginny back over to her bed, and once Ginny had sat down, Hermione headed towards the door. "I'll be right back ok?" she said quietly as she walked out.

As soon as the door had closed, Ginny threw herself face down on her bed and put her hands over her face. He body shook under the heavy sobs, and her breath was ragged as she laid there and thought about Harry.

Hermione pulled the door closed behind her and began to walk up the stairs towards the boy's room. Her heart raced as she stepped up to the door. She was concerned for her friend, and hoped that he would at least let her talk to her. He had a habit of shutting people out when he upset, even though he didn't really mean to she reminded herself as she raised her hand and knocked.

There was no answer, and so she knocked again and called softly "Harry?" There was still no answer, so she called a bit louder "Harry, can I come in? It's me, Hermione."

Slowly the door opened a crack but did not open any farther. Hermione heard soft footsteps retreating across the room, and she took this as invitation to come in. She pushed the door open all the way and saw Harry lying on his back across his bed. He had an arm draped over his eyes and his chest was rising and falling slowly.

She smiled a concerned smile as she walked towards him. "Happy birthday Harry." she said.

Harry snorted quietly and replied, "Thanks."

"You're all alone up here and everyone wants to see you. Are you doing alright?" Hermione asked.

"I'm fine." grunted Harry without moving his hands.

"You know I can tell when you're lying Harry. Ginny told me about last night…" said Hermione.

Harry groaned loudly and rolled over onto his side at her words.

"Harry, it's ok." said Hermione as she walked across the room and squatted next to his bed. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Not really." he mumbled.

Hermione reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. He reflexively pulled it away, and scooted away from her touch. "Ginny is really upset Harry. She feels just awful for what she said. She was really…"

"I was really upset too Hermione." snapped Harry as his head whipped around to face her. She could tell immediately that he was upset and very hurt.

She closed her eyes tightly, and trying to ignore being interrupted, she took a deep breath and said "I know Harry, and if you want to talk about it, I'm here. Just don't shut your friends out."

"I'm not. I mean, I tried to talk about it, but she just didn't get it." Harry said, impatience growing in his voice.

"Harry, come on, you're being really unfair. She was scared, and really upset. She didn't mean…"said Hermione in a loud voice as her frustration with Harry began to boil over.

"Then why did she say it?" Harry interrupted as he sat up.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I don't know, and don't interrupt me!" she said slowly and deliberately, trying desperately to remain calm.

Harry stood up and walked over to the window. "I don't want to talk about it." he said as he shook his head, not bothering to look back at her. "I tried once and look what it got me. I just want to be alone right now ok Hermione?"

Hermione started walking over to Harry. "Harry…" she said.

"Just leave me alone alright?" Harry pleaded as he looked at Hermione.

Hermione looked up at him, and with tears welling in her eyes, she quickly looked away. Her head was hung as she turned and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.

Hermione walked deliberately down the stairs and back to the room she was staying in with Ginny. She stormed through the door and slammed it shut. Ginny's head snapped up at the sound of the door and she looked over at Hermione. Hermione stood with her back against the door, and she was breathing hard. Her fists were clenched and held rigidly at her side.

Ginny smiled at her and said "Well?"

"Well what?" Hermione snapped as her fists started to tremble. "AAARRRGGGHHH!" she screamed as she shook her head.

"So what did he say?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing!" replied Hermione hotly. She walked over to her bed, sat down roughly, and crossed her legs.

Ginny just giggled as she watched her friend. "So in other words, he was being Harry huh?"

"Yes!" said Hermione with an exasperated huff. "Has Tonks been by yet? She was supposed to meet me here today."

"No. Mum said she'd be by later. Why? What's up?" replied a curious Ginny.

Hermione shifted nervously on her bed and was unable to look at Ginny as she replied, "Oh, nothing. She's been showing me some things. Just some extra things to help me next year in school. You know."

"You want to go do something until everybody gets here?" asked Ginny. "Maybe go into the village?"

"Who is coming?" asked Hermione as she stood up.

Ginny hopped off of her bed and walked towards the door as she answered, "Well, Tonks said she was coming, and Professor Lupin is already here with dad." Ginny opened the door, and Hermione followed her through as she continued. "They are off somewhere working on something for the Order. Oh yeah, remind me to tell you about that conversation. Really interesting. Anyway, I think dad said something about Professor Moody coming as well."

"Hmmm." replied Hermione absently as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Mum" called Ginny loudly. She did not hear an answer so she called again. "Mum, We're going into the village. We'll be back later!"

Ginny walked out the back door with Hermione following close behind. When they stepped out onto the porch, they saw Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Granger sitting on the edge of it laughing. Ginny and Hermione smiled as they walked down the steps. There was a loud noise from over by Mr. Weasley's shed, and both girls jumped and looked over.

"Arthur?" called Mrs. Weasley as she and Mrs. Granger stood up and headed towards the shed.

"What Molly? We're fine. Just a bit of..." came the sheepish voice or Mr. Weasley.

"Were fine ladies!" interrupted Mr. Granger with a laugh.

Mrs. Granger laughed as she said "Oh? You're ladies are you?"

"And fine ones at that!" added Mrs. Weasley with a hearty laugh.

Both Ginny and Hermione laughed as they headed around to the front of the house towards the village. They were a ways down the lane when there was a loud crack behind them and they both turned quickly as their hands went instinctively to their wands.

A woman in her early twenties stood before them. She had putrid mustard yellow hair, and a bright cheery smile. "Wotcha Hermione! Am I late?" said Nymphadora Tonks.

"Tonks!" Cried Ginny and Hermione at the same time, as they ran over to her.

Tonks opened her arms and gave the girls a huge hug. "How are you Ginny?" Tonks asked enthusiastically.

"Great! I really missed you." said Ginny in a muffled voice as Tonks buried Ginny's face into her shoulder. "Ummm…you can let go now"

"Oh!" said Tonks as she realized that she was squeezing Ginny's head. After letting Ginny go, she said "Sorry about that." and smiled awkwardly.

"Tonks." called Hermione.

Tonks looked over at her, and her face fell a bit as she saw the serious expression on Hermione's face. "Hey Hermione. When did you get here?"

"Just a bit ago. Are we still on for the lessons?" she asked seriously.

"Yeah, but just give me a bit to say hi to everyone first ok?" said Tonks.

Hermione's face brightened and she replied "Sure!"

The three women all linked arms and walked up the lane and around to the back of the house. They were laughing and talking as they caught up on the nearly two months since they had last been together.

Mrs. Weasley called out to them as soon as they rounded the corner of the house. "Tonks!"

"Molly!" called Tonks with enthusiasm.

"Arthur! Remus! Tonks is here." cried Mrs. Weasley as she hurried over to Tonks and the girls.

"Ahh, Tonks!" greeted Mr. Weasley happily as he came out of the shed followed by Mr. Granger. "This is Hermione's father." said Mr. Weasley. Mr. Granger stuck out his hand and shook Tonks' hand enthusiastically as he stared curiously at her hair.

"You have a very brilliant daughter Mr. Granger." said Tonks happily.

"So we've heard!" said Mrs. Granger from behind them. "I'm her mother, and she has talked a lot about you. It is good to finally meet you in person!"

A voice behind Tonks caused her to jump slightly, and she felt her pulse race a bit faster as she turned to face it. "Nymph…" was all it said before Tonk sharply interrupted it.

"Loony Lupin, don't you dare! You know I hate that name!" said Tonks with a very stern look on her face. Remus Lupin stood there smiling at Tonks, and after a few seconds of trying to look mad, Tonks' face broke into a grin.

"How are you?" asked Remus.

"Wonderful Remus!" replied Tonks.

Hermione cleared her throat loudly and Tonks looked back at her. "Oh right." she said. "Hermione and I will be back a bit later. We have some things to work on for uh…" She paused for a moment before blurting out "School!"

Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at each other with a skeptical look, but they didn't protest as they saw the unconcerned looks on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's faces.

Ginny furrowed her brow and looked at Hermione. Hermione saw her and just raised her eyebrows a bit and cocked her head slightly. Ginny decided not to push the situation as she walked over to where her mother and Mrs. Granger were standing.

"Tonks, are you going to be back soon, because we have some things we need to discuss. I had hoped Alistor would have been here by now since we really need him too." said Mr. Weasley as Hermione and Tonks began walking towards the front of the house.

"I'll be back later Arthur!" she called.

Ginny watched longingly as Hermione and Tonks disappeared around the house, and then turned to her mother and said "Mum, I'm going to go into the village for a bit. I'll be back soon."

"Alright, but be careful. You have your wand right?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

Mrs. Granger's face lit up with an amazed look as she glanced between Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. She just shook her head and laughed quietly to herself.

"Yes mum." groaned Ginny as she felt her wand in her back pocket.

Ginny walked around to the front of the house and looked around. She did not see Hermione or Tonks anywhere, so she kept walking towards the village. She was not sure what she wanted to do thee, but she knew she did not want to be at home right now. It tore her up inside to see Harry acting like he was, and though she joked about it, to see how he treated Hermione really irritated her.

Her mood steadily darkened as she made her way to the main street in Ottery St. Catchpole. She wished Hermione were with her as she looked at the busy sidewalks. The pet shop where Ian worked was only a little way from where she was, and slowly she joined the bustling crowd, and made her way towards it. She stopped occasionally to glance in the windows of the shops, knowing that she did not have any money to buy anything, but she still liked to look.

Soon she was in front of Hasten Pets, and she went inside. The pungent odor of the dogs and cats and other animals met her nose and she involuntarily wrinkled it as she looked around. Mrs. Hasten greeted her from around a shelf of bird cages. "Hello there Ginny!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi Mrs. Hasten. Is Ian around?" asked Ginny.

"No. I think he went to meet Christina for something. He should be back soon though dear, if you'd like to wait." answered Mrs. Hasten as she stood up and went behind the counter.

"Oh thanks, but I was just stopping by for a minute. I'll try to stop by later. Bye!" she said happily as she walked out the door.

Once out on the step of the store, Ginny looked both ways down the sidewalk and did not see Ian anywhere. She decided to go to the ice cream shop because that was most likely where he and Christina were.

She took her time as she headed down the street and looked in the shop windows. There was petite clothing store that caught her eye, and as she stood staring at an outfit in the window thinking about how cute it would look on her, she heard someone shout "Hey Weasel."

Ginny groaned to herself. She did not respond but instead started walking towards the next shop. "Hey Weasel." came the voice again, this time it was right behind Ginny.

"What?" Ginny spat as she spun around to face the girl. The girl Ginny was looking at stood about three inches taller that she did. She had dirty blonde hair, and wore what looked like a very expensive skirt and shirt set. Behind her stood three other girls, all dressed in sharp expensive clothes.

"Where did you get those jeans?" the girl sneered at Ginny.

"What's it to you?" retorted Ginny. She felt her blood pressure rise, as her anger began to flare. Flexing her fingers and balling them into fists did not help, so she took a couple of deep breaths and turned to walk away.

"You can afford to go to private school, but still have to wear things like that?" said the girl with a vicious laugh. The girls behind her also laughed.

"Yeah, that's right!" Ginny yelled, turning back towards the girl. She could hardly hold her temper now. As long as she could remember, these girls had tormented her. Their families were some of the wealthiest in the town, and the girls, while not knowing who Ginny or the Weasley's truly were, saw her as one of the poor riffraff from the country side that came into town occasionally.

"I bet you can't even afford to pay for your school. You probably don't even go to school. My daddy says he sees your dad always wearing old worn out robes with a stupid smile on his face as he gawks around like he is some kind of crazy drunk wizard or something." said the girl, letting out a mean laugh.

Ginny started to reach for the wand in her back pocket when she suddenly changed her mind. Instead, she balled up her fists and held them rigidly at her side. The fire in her eyes made the girls back up a few steps. Ginny took a few deep breaths, and turned away from them when a hand rested gently on her shoulder.

"There you are Ginny. I was looking all over for you!" said the welcome and familiar voice of Ian.

"Hi Ian." said the group of girls in unison. They immediately started giggling, but then glared at Ginny as Ian put his arm around her.

"Come on Ginny. Let's go get some coffee." he said with a squeeze.

Ginny flashed a smug smile at the group of girls who were standing there with their mouths and eyes wide open. As she and Ian walked away, Ginny turned her head and looked back just as the group of girls huffed off in the opposite direction.

"Thanks Ian." said Ginny, sounding relieved.

"Yeah. You would have gotten in a lot of trouble messing with that lot." said Ian calmly.

"I know." she said. She let out a frustrated scream before continuing "They just make me so angry. I hate not having any money, but they made fun of my dad. Yeah, I know he can be a little strange, but he's my dad!"

"I know, I've met your dad." he said with a chuckle. "He is a little strange, but he is so much fun in the store. Always wants to know about everything." Ian paused and looked at Ginny. She was smiling as he said "Come on you. Let's go get some coffee." Ginny's heart fluttered a bit when she realized that Ian still had his arm around her.

Together they made their way down the street towards the coffee shop. When they finally got there, they had to stand in the queue for a few minutes, so Ginny asked "Where is Christina? Your mum said you had gone to meet her."

"She had to go back to work." Ian replied.

A confused look crossed Ginny's face as she asked "Then why aren't you at work?"

A smug look formed on Ian's face as he said "Well, not everyone can have the schedule I have." Ginny just smiled and playfully hit him on the shoulder.

They finally made it to the counter, and Ian said "I'll have a large coffee, black, and…" He looked over at Ginny as his voice trailed off. He seemed deep in thought as he said slowly "…and a large double chocolate mocha."

Ginny smiled, and gave a prodding nod.

"With extra whipped cream!" Ian said triumphantly. As an afterthought, he turned back to the counter and said "Put some mint in it too."

"What? I don't want mint in it." exclaimed Ginny as she stepped up next to Ginny.

Ian looked down at Ginny and said "Why not? Try something a bit different for a change. Christina loves mint and chocolate together."

"Ok, fine." she said as she crossed her arms.

A couple of minutes later, the person behind the counter handed them their drinks, and they went and sat down. Ginny took the lid off of her coffee and ran her finger across the top of the whipped cream and stuck it in her mouth. She carefully scraped all the whipped cream off of her coffee, and then blew across the top of it sending steam towards Ian.

Ian laughed a bit as he watched her. "So are you going to drink it or play with it?" he asked.

Ginny half laughed, half sighed as she continued to look at her coffee. Her thoughts were again on Harry. She wished he could just see that she was sorry. She hadn't really meant anything by her remark, and she needed him to understand that. She decided that she needed to talk to him, and make him understand.

"Ian, I really have to get going. Thanks for the coffee." said Ginny as she stood up.

Ian stood with her and together they walked out the door. Once outside, Ian put a hand on her arm and turned her towards him. "Are you OK?" has asked.

"Yeah. There is just something I have to do. I'll talk to you later ok?" said Ginny as she smiled weakly.

"Ok." said Ian in a way that Ginny knew he didn't believe her. He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and then turned and started walking towards the pet shop.

Ginny walked down the main street and then turned off onto the side street that led to the path back to the woods by The Burrow. She nursed the coffee that Ian had bought her, and she had to admit that the mint and chocolate tasted perfect together. Her spirits brightened slightly as the warm chocolate mint coffee warmed her insides, and when she turned down the lane to her house, she was smiling.

She walked around to the back of the house, and she immediately noticed that there were a lot of people there. Aside from those who were there earlier, Fred and George were back, Professor Moody had finally arrived, and much to her and she was sure her mothers dismay, Mundungus Fletcher was there as well. Several people waved to her as she walked by. She politely waved and said "Hi." as she continued into the house. She stopped on the porch and looked at the people. They were all happy, laughing, and talking. As her eyes scanned the crowd, her heart sank a little when she realized that Harry was not among them.

Once inside, she headed straight for the stairs and up to her room. She went over to her closet and picked up the box she had wrapped earlier. She needed to talk to Harry, and this gave her the perfect excuse she thought as she headed out of her room and started up the stairs towards the boy's room.

She walked deliberately up to the door and knocked. As she expected, there was no answer. "Harry." she called softly as some of her nerve eroded.

"It's open." said Harry.

Ginny turned the handle and opened the door. She saw Harry under the covers in his bed. It looked as he hadn't moved since she had seen him earlier. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door with the gift clutched across her chest and thought about what her next move would be.

"Harry, I have a present for you." she began. She waited eagerly for some kind of reaction, but when none came, she continued, "I know it's not much, but I wanted to get you something for your birthday." Again, she paused for a reaction, but still Harry did not move. "Harry, would you at least look at me?" she pleaded quietly.

Harry rolled over and looked into her eyes, and she could tell that he had been crying. She felt a slight twinge in her chest as his eyes bored into her. He sat up slowly and gestured for her to come sit down on the bed. His face bore no expression as she sat down and placed the box on his lap that was still under the covers.

He picked up the box and began to open it. "Thanks Ginny. You didn't have to get me anything you know." he said.

Ginny forced a smile and said, "I know, but I wanted to. I hope you like it." She crossed her legs underneath herself and bounced slightly with anticipation.

With the last of the spello tape removed, Harry pulled the top off of the box and lifted out the shirt. He looked at the front carefully, then turned it around and looked at the back. He held it up to his chest and smiled at her. "Thanks Ginny. It's umm…nice." he said.

Ginny could tell that he was just being polite. The look on his face told her that he didn't really like the shirt all that much, but at least he was trying she thought. "Harry, can we talk about last night please?" she pleaded, as her eyes never left his.

"There's not much to talk about is there?" he said

Ginny looked at the fidgeting hands in her lap and said "I think there is. You have been avoiding me all day today. Every time I tried to apologize for what I said, you just blew me off."

Harry looked away from her as he said, "I just didn't feel like talking about it."

"I know." she said. "Harry we're friends right?"

Harry nodded.

"I said something stupid and I hurt you. I am sorry. I would never hurt you like that on purpose. You know that don't you?" she pleaded as she reached out and put her hand over the back of his hand and squeezed it gently.

Harry immediately withdrew his hand and looked at her. "Ginny, I just need to be alone right now."

She tried to hide her irritation as she stood up and said "There are a lot of people down there that want to see you Harry. I think it would be nice if you came down saw them."

"I don't really feel like it." said Harry as he threw himself back onto his bed.

Ginny walked over to the door, paused briefly, and looked back at him. In a soft but firm voice, she said "It isn't always about you Harry,"

Ginny closed the door behind her and walked down to the kitchen. Mrs. Granger was stirring something on the stove by hand while two other pots boiled away and stirred them selves. Mrs. Weasley was standing at the counter cutting something.

As soon as Ginny walked in, Mrs. Weasley turned to her and said "Ginny, Hermione and Tonks were looking for you. If you find them, could you three come in here and give us a hand. There is a lot to be done before we are ready to eat."

"Sure mum." said Ginny as she walked towards the back door.

"Oh, and how is Harry dear?" called Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry DEAR is fine. He is just sulking." said Ginny sharply as she went outside.

Ginny looked around and saw Professor Lupin, Mr. Granger, Fred and George, and her father all sitting on chairs over by the shed. They were all talking very animatedly, and laughing. She couldn't help the corners of her mouth as they crept upwards into a smile. Off on the other side of the upper garden, she saw Ron and Professor Moody also deep in conversation. She quickly scanned the yard again and to her relief, she did not see Mundungus Fletcher anywhere.

She walked towards Ron and Professor Moody, and when she was close enough that she didn't have to shout, she said "Ron, have you seen Tonks and Hermione? Mum said they were back."

"Yeah. I think they went around front." replied Ron as he pointed towards the other side of the house. He quickly returned to his conversation as Ginny walked to where Ron had pointed.

When she got around front, she saw Tonks and Hermione sitting on the front porch talking. "Ginny!" called Tonks happily.

Ginny smiled and walked over to them. "Where did you guys go earlier?"

Tonks and Hermione looked at each other quickly and Hermione said nervously "Oh, Tonks was showing me some things that will really help me with my studies next year."

Ginny was not sure what was going on, but she didn't feel like asking about it right then, so she said "Well, mum wants some help in the kitchen, and she sent me to find you two."

Hermione and Tonks stood up and together the three of them started walking around to the back of the house. They heard Mrs. Weasleys shrill voice as the rounded the house. "Arthur, Fred, George, are those tables set up yet?"

They all laughed as they watched the men all scramble out of their chairs and into the shed. Fred and George were just coming back out with a table as they walked into the house.

"Hey mum!" called Ginny.

"Oh there you are dears!" said Mrs. Weasley as she looked up. "Could you help me out a bit here? I need the potatoes mashed, the tables will need set, and then we have to get all of this outside" she finished as she held out her arm and towards the counter covered with full serving bowls.

"Molly," called Mrs. Granger. "How do you turn this off?" she asked as she pointed towards one of the pots that had a self-stirring spoon in it.

"Oh. Right" said Mrs. Weasley with a smile as she pulled out her wand. "Finite!" she said with a flick of her wrist. The spoon stopped stirring immediately, and Mrs. Granger giggled with delight.

"I really need one of those." Mrs. Granger joked.

Ginny and Hermione walked over to the back door and looked out to make sure that the men had set up the tables like they were supposed to before they carried all of the place settings outside. Once they saw that the tables were indeed set up, they went back to the kitchen and gathered plates, bowls and silverware. With their arms full, Ginny and Hermione made their way carefully outside while Tonks held the door.

Remus Lupin looked up in time to see the two girls carrying the dishes and immediately went over to help them. The three of them quickly set the table, and when they were done, Remus followed the girls back into the house.

"Molly," said Remus. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Mrs. Weasley looked over to him and said "Well, you could mash the potatoes." as she quickly surveyed the kitchen and shot Tonks a glance. "Thank you." she finished with a smile.

Lupin smiled back at Molly, walked over next to her and began mashing the potatoes. He watched as Tonks continued to talk with Hermione and Ginny. She was engrossed in conversation but suddenly looked over at him and with a smile on her face, she winked at him. He quickly looked back down at the potatoes and his face went red.

He did not see Tonks leave her conversation and walk next to where he was working on the potatoes. He jumped slightly when he felt her hand on his shoulder, and when he looked up at her, she gave him a very coy look and scooped some potatoes with her finger. She put her finger into her mouth and slowly pulled it out. With her eyes closed, she leaned towards his ear and said softly "Delicious."

Remus looked at Tonks with a look of complete bewilderment. He turned when he heard the girls behind him giggling, and couldn't help but smile as he said to Molly. "I think they're done." Without looking at Tonks or the girls, he walked out of the kitchen and out the back door.

The girls were still giggling when Ron walked into the kitchen. A quizzical look crossed his face as he tried to figure out what the girls were laughing at. When they saw the look on his face, they laughed even harder. Ron just stared at them for a second before he shook his head rolled his eyes and turned towards the stairs.

Ron walked up the stairs to the room he and Harry shared and went straight through the door. "Hey mate!" he called over to Harry who was still laying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

Harry looked over at Ron, and then looked back up. He didn't say a word.

"Harry? You ok? You've been up here all day. It's about time to eat." said Ron.

"I'm not hungry." mumbled Harry.

Ron looked at Harry, and in a calm voice he said "There's a lot of people here tonight. Professor Lupin is still here, and Professor Moody is here too, as well as Tonks. Everyone's been asking about you."

"Tell them I'm fine." said Harry as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"No mate," said Ron as he walked over to Harry and grabbed his arm. "You're going to tell them yourself, now come on."

Harry jerked his arm out of Ron's grasp and said, "Get off Ron. I don't want to deal with a birthday party right now ok?"

"A bit full of yourself aren't you? Well, I'm not telling them anything for you." said Ron forcefully as he turned and walked out the door, closing it loudly behind him.

When Ron made it to the bottom of the stairs, he saw Mrs. Weasley and Tonks carrying the last of the food outside. He followed them through the door and out into the garden where the tables were laden with many different dishes. The full tables in front of him reminded him of the great feasts of Hogwarts. As his thoughts began to drift, he was suddenly pulled back by a light touch on his arm. Ron jumped slightly as his head whipped around, and he found himself looking down into Hermione's eyes.

She smiled at him as she said "Hey, are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah." said Ron.

The smile faded on her face as she asked, "Where's Harry?"

"Oh, he's still upstairs." replied Ron sharply.

"Ron, he just needs some time…" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"He's had plenty of time..." interrupted Ron.

"Don't interrupt me Ron." said Hermione indignantly as she interrupted Ron. "I was saying that he needs time, and that having all these people who were very close to Sirius, and who were with us at the Ministry of Magic that night must be hard for him."

Ron hesitated to make sure Hermione was done talking before he said, "We were all there Hermione, we…"

Before Ron could finish his statement, Hermione cut in and said "Yes, but Sirius was his godfather."

Ron looked frustrated as he said "I know that, but he was all of our friend and…"

"And we all cared…" interrupted Hermione.

Before she could finish her thought, Ron said, "Would you not interrupt ME?"

"I didn't." argued Hermione.

"You did." said Ron.

Before Hermione could respond, Ginny called over to them "Hey you are you going to stop so we can eat?"

Ron and Hermione looked over at the table, and saw that everyone was seated and waiting for them. They looked at each other and then back at the table again as they walked over and took their seats.

Once they were seated, complete chaos broke out. Food was being passed in every direction, conversations grew louder from one end of the table to the other, a glass of butterbeer was spilled, and in the middle of it all, nobody noticed as Harry quietly joined the table.

Harry filled his plate as dishes were passed to him unnoticed. He scanned the table and saw that Mr. Weasley, Mr. Granger, the twins and Ron were all deep in conversation about Quidditch. It sounded like they were trying to explain to Mr. Granger all of the finer points of the wizarding sport, and he looked intensely interested. Hermione and Ginny were smiling and laughing as they talked, while Professors Moody and Lupin were talking to Tonks. Tonks seemed quite happy as she leaned in and said something into Professor Lupin's ear. He just laughed and went back to talking to Professor Moody.

Ginny glanced over at Harry. She smiled happily at him but didn't say anything to him as she continued her conversation with Hermione. Harry saw the happiness in her eyes as she noticed him. He returned her smile, but she didn't see him as she threw her head back and laughed at something Hermione had said.

"Harry!" called Mrs. Weasley suddenly.

The whole table went silent and everybody looked over at him. The look on Ginny's face told Harry that she knew exactly what he was feeling. His smile faded and she began to look around the table and her eyes grew wide with concern as she noticed everybody staring at him.

"Pass some more potatoes please mum." Ginny said immediately. "They are delicious Professor Lupin. Where did you learn to mash them like that?" she added with a nervous smile.

Mrs. Weasley did not hear Ginny, but Hermione quickly noticed what was going on and chimed in "Dad, could you pass some more carrots?"

Mr. Granger started as his daughter spoke to him. "Sure honey." he said as he passed the carrots and silence returned.

The sound of a spilling glass broke the renewed silence, and was quickly followed by the cheerful voice of Tonks. "Here you are Ginny." she said as she passed the potatoes with one hand, and righted her glass with the other.

Slowly people went back to their conversations, and Harry quickly became immersed in the Quidditch discussion. Mr. Granger seemed particularly impressed by the stories that Ron and the twins were telling him about Harry, and he positively beamed at Ron as Harry told him about how Ron had saved the Quidditch cup for Griffyndor last spring.

Harry managed to catch Ginny's eye, and he hoped he was able to convey his thanks for relieving some of the awkwardness his sudden appearance had caused. His heart fluttered a bit as she smiled and then winked slyly at him before looking back at Hermione.

The buzz of the many conversations, eating, silverware striking plates and bowls was suddenly shattered by a simple soft question from Remus. "So Harry, how did you do on your O.W.L.'s?"

Near silence filled the room at the mention of the wizarding exams. Harry looked nervously from Lupin to Ron and finally to Hermione. Hermione was the first to speak. "Well Professor, I received…"

Ron cut her off in mid sentence. "Hermione," he said warningly. "We agreed not to talk about O.W.L's remember?"

Hermione's face flushed a bit. "I know." she said softly. "But I did so well."

By now, all eyes were on Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Tension rose in the room as anxious looks passed between the adults.

Ginny finally broke the uneasy silence. She lifted up a bowl of cut tomatoes and said, "So, did anyone else know that tomatoes are really a fruit?"

Everybody turned and looked at her. Ron gave her a completely bewildered look, and Harry chuckled under his breath. She smiled sheepishly and put the bowl down. The tension was broken and things quickly returned to normal at the table, and before long everybody was beginning to quiet down as the meal started to settle.

"Molly, that was absolutely delicious." said Remus with a smile as he leaned back on his chair, his hands folded behind his head. "Especially the potatoes." he added as he glanced over at Tonks and gave her a knowing look.

Several others nodded in agreement as Mrs. Weasley blushed fiercely. She stood up and began to clear the table. Soon Mrs. Granger, Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny had begun to help as well. Harry continued to eat as he talked with Fred and George, and Ron sat still trying to avoid helping.

When the table was nearly cleared, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger stood up and stretched. "Is there anything we can help with Molly?" said Mr. Weasley as Mrs. Weasley cleared up a few more dishes, leaving the table almost empty.

She looked at him with an annoyed yet amused look. "Oh no Arthur. We women have it all under control." she said with a nod as Mrs. Granger walked over to her.

"Ah, yes. It looked like you did." said Mr. Weasley sheepishly.

"We didn't want to get in the way." added Mr. Granger to his wife.

The two women rolled their eyes, shook their heads, and sighed loudly as they grabbed the last of the things on the tables. "Could you at least be so kind as to put the tables away Arthur?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Of course dear." he replied.

Once their wives were out of ear shot, Mr. Granger turned to Mr. Weasley and said "Arthur, I know how much you like the little bits of muggle culture, so I brought a little something for after dinner. I think you'll enjoy it."

Mr. Weasley gave him a questioning look, as they began to put away the tables. "Fred, George, Ron, give us a hand will you?" he called to his sons.

Soon all of the tables were put away and the men all sat down in their chairs out in the garden and continued to talk as the sun went down. After a few minutes, Mr. Granger stood up and went around to the front of the house. He quickly returned carrying a plain brown wooden box. Mr. Weasley's eyes widened as he approached.

"Are those cigars?" he asked hopefully.

"Yep!" answered Mr. Granger with a smile. "Have you ever had one Arthur?" he asked.

"Oh yes," answered Mr. Weasley enthusiastically. "Quite delightful."

Mr. Granger offered the box to Mr. Weasley, who picked out a cigar, and Mr. Granger offered the box to Ron. Ron looked hesitantly at his father who looked quickly up at the house then gave Ron a slight nod.

"Don't let your mother know I let you have that." he said in a serious tone that was belied by the smile on his face.

Fred and George enthusiastically picked out a couple of cigars and promptly bit the ends off of them, pulled out their wands and with a flick of their wrists, they said "incendio" and they lit their cigars. Once their Cigars were lit, they disappeared towards the front of the house.

"Alistor?" Mr. Granger said as he offered the box to Moody. Professor Moody happily took a cigar and pulled out his own wand and lit it. He leaned over to Ron and lit his cigar as well.

Ron sucked on the end of his lit cigar and swallowed the smoke. He immediately started coughing as his face went green. The others around his started laughing, and soon Ron was laughing too. He tried another puff, and started coughing again, and this time he decided he was just going to sit there holding the lit cigar without actually smoking it.

"Remus. Care for one?" Mr. Granger asked as he held the box to Lupin.

"Ahh…no thanks. Never really cared for them." said Professor Lupin with a smile. "Now if you had a good pipe and a Brandy Alexander with a touch of Creme De Menthe…" he added distantly.

"How about you Harry?" Mr. Granger asked.

Harry looked over at Ron who just shrugged and held his own cigar up a bit. Harry nodded and took a cigar from the box. Professor Moody proceeded to light it for him, and Harry smiled and looked at Ron again and decided to just hold it rather than try and smoke it.

Mr. Granger took out a cigar of his own, and pulled his lighter out of his pocket and lit it. "What are you waiting for Arthur?" he asked when he saw that Mr. Weasley was the only one who did not have a lit cigar.

"I was waiting to light it using your zipper. I want to do it the proper muggle way." he said with a smile.

Mr. Granger just stared at him with a confused look on his face. "Zipper?" he mumbled.

"Yes. Your zipper, the thing you just lit yours with. Am I saying that right?" Mr. Weasley said.

"Oh, my Zippo. A lighter." Mr. Granger said with a laugh, as he walked over to light Mr. Weasleys cigar.

Mr. Weasley was positively beaming as his cigar was lit. "Yes, that." said Mr. Weasley proudly.

The conversation picked up again as the men all sat around smoking their cigars. A moment later, Fred and George reappeared with their arms loaded with bottles. "What have you got there?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Butterbeer dad." answered Fred.

"Have you ever had one Mr. Granger?" asked George as he handed a bottle to Mr. Granger.

Mr. Granger smiled as he took the bottle from George's hand. "Yes. A couple of years ago when we were all in Diagon Alley together. It was great!"

Harry watched as Fred and George passed the butterbeers, and he looked at those around him, and his thoughts began to drift back to Sirius. He would have absolutely loved this he thought. The problems facing them seemed so far away right now, but waves of longing overcame Harry as he watched Lupin smiling and joking with the others. He had been Sirius' best friend, and Harry did not understand how he could be so happy right now, while he was so sad.

Harry was jerked out his misery when he heard Mrs. Weasley's voice come across the garden. "Harry could you come here for a minute. Hermione needs your help with something."

"I'll help mum." piped up Ron.

"Oh, no dear, you smoke your..." Mrs. Weasleys voice trailed off as she realized what her son was doing. "Arthur Weasley!" she shouted. "What is he doing with that thing?"

Harry quickly dropped his cigar to the ground and looked over at Mr. Weasley when he saw Mrs. Weasley's reaction. "It alright Molly." said Mr. Weasley sheepishly. "They weren't really smoking them. More like holding them. Right boys?" he said as he looked nervously around.

"Yeah." said Ron eagerly.

Harry nodded in agreement as Professor Lupin said almost pleadingly "Molly, it won't hurt them this one time. It's a special occasion."

"Well, I still don't like it, but only this once." she said with an icy stare at her husband.

"Harry, Hermione needs your help." said Mrs. Weasley again. "I'll only take a bit."

Harry stood up and followed Mrs. Weasley back to the house. They walked through the kitchen, and Hermione came bouncing up to him. "Harry, come upstairs. I have something to show you."

Harry looked around at the gathered women, and suddenly felt rather uncomfortable under their smirking stares. He looked at Ginny and when he saw that she was smiling broadly, and he became even more nervous. He desperately wanted some kind of reassurance from her, but she only stared more intensely into his eyes.

Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him up the stairs. "What's going on Hermione?" he asked skeptically.

"Nothing Harry." she said with a smile.

"Hermione, if they are all planning on surprising me down there, I am not really in the mood." Harry said as she turned to look at him.

"Harry, come on. Ginny said you've been moping around here for days..." started Hermione pleadingly.

"Oh did she?" Harry interrupted. "What else has she been saying?"

"Harry, that's not the point. I know…" Hermione began.

Harry interrupted her again. "You know what? What I've been going through? What I'm feeling? I'm sorry Hermione, but you don't. Nobody does. I thought Lupin might, but he is down there smiling and joking when his best friend is dead. I'm sorry, but I can't do this."

Hermione was taken aback by Harry's sudden outburst. She regained herself and said "Harry, just please come downstairs. We worked really hard on this for you. For you Harry. Ginny worked on this FOR YOU!"

"Fine." said Harry as he started walking back down the stairs.

"Harry, wait!" called Hermione.

Harry stopped and turned towards her. "Why?" he asked. "I just want to get this over with. I am tired, and want to go to bed."

"Just give it a minute, ok?" pleaded Hermione.

"Fine." said Harry as he sat down on the step he had been standing on.

Hermione walked down to where Harry was sitting, and tried to sit next to him. When she sat down, Harry scooted down a step, and didn't say a word. Hermione folded her hands on her lap and sighed loudly.

They sat like that for a few minutes and finally Hermione stood up and said "Come on Harry."

They walked the rest of the way down the stairs and when they got to the bottom, Harry noticed that the lights were out, but as soon as they stepped off of the stairs onto the floor, Harry heard whispering, and when they took a few steps into the darkness, the room was suddenly lit by sixteen brightly burning candles. Harry's ears were greeted with enthusiastic singing. He felt someone put their arm around his and hold it tightly. He looked over and saw Ginny standing next to him smiling.


	7. The Party

Chapter 6: The Party

When the singing stopped, Harry smiled weakly. Ginny pulled him over to the table where he saw a large red and gold cake with sixteen candles on it. He looked nervously around and then back at the cake. He became entranced by the jumping flames, and soon his thoughts were drifting back to the Prophesy. The words echoed through his head.

_And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives  
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. _

He felt his head begin to pound and his heart began to race. His pulse beat loudly in his ear as he drew in a deep breath. He released it and watched as each candle was blown out. As each flame died, Harry thought about those who had been lost because of what the prophesy foretold. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Bertha, and countless others.

Ginny could tell that Harry was having a hard time. She felt him tense up, and watched his expression grow distant as he looked at the candles on his cake. She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, and moved over next to her mum and Tonks to help serve the cake.

The noise in the room grew steadily louder as everybody was talking and laughing and having a good time. Harry looked around and saw Tonks, Lupin and Ginny talking. Ginny looked over at him, and gave him a reassuring smile as she took another sip of her butter beer.

Harry walked over to the table and picked up a pumpkin cookie and took a bite out of it. It tasted far better than pumpkin pie, he thought, as he saw Ron, Hermione and Mr. Weasley talking with Professor Moody.

"Happy birthday Harry." said Mrs. Granger as she walked over to him.

Harry looked up at her and nodded absently. "Thanks." he said quietly.

"We really have to get going, but it was good to see you again Harry." said Mr. Granger as he held out his hand and shook Harry's.

"Yeah." said Harry.

Hermione walked over to her parents, as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined them and walked them to the door. They chatted for a few minutes, and finally after many waves and hugs, Hermione's parents left. Hermione stayed out on the porch for a minute as she watched them drive down the lane.

Once they were all back in the house, Hermione walked up to Harry and said "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." he replied shortly.

"Hey Harry!" called Fred.

"When are you going to open your presents?" asked George.

Harry just shrugged and walked over to an empty part of the room and crouched down and looked at everybody. They were all so happy. He watched as Hermione and Ron were arguing over something. He watched Fred pick some icing off of what was left of the cake. The final straw for Harry was when he watched Professor Lupin laugh heartily at something Tonks had said.

Harry stood up and folded his arms across his chest and stormed towards the stairs. Ginny immediately saw him leaving and hurried towards him, but she was blocked by Fred. "Hey Harry. Are you going to open your presents? George and I got you something really cool."

"Much better than the shrinking pajamas." added George with a laugh.

Harry turned and said "I really don't want any presents right now."

Harry turned back towards the stairs, and George said "Don't want any presents on your birthday? You feeling alright mate?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned slowly back around. He glared at the room and said loudly and deliberately "I'm feeling fine."

The room immediately quieted down as everybody watched Harry walk towards the stairs. Harry walked out of the room and up to his room, stomping loudly on each step as he went.

Ginny looked awkwardly around at those around her. Hermione got up to follow, but Ron grabbed her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head slightly. Hermione immediately relaxed, but her face still wore a look of deep concern.

Ginny sighed dramatically. Her shoulders fell as she hung her head and trudged off towards the stairs. She slowly made her way up them, thinking about what she was going to say. Before she knew it, she was outside Harry's closed door.

She stepped up to it and took a deep breath before knocking. "What?' called Harry in an agitated voice.

Ginny slowly opened the door. "Harry," she said calmly as she stood in the doorway with her hands high on the frame. The corners of her mouth rose slightly as she continued "You have a lot of people downstairs who care about you."

Harry just sat on the edge of his bed with his head lowered. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly. "I know, I just want to be alone." he said softly.

Ginny just stood there watching him. When he did not make any move, she said "Harry, you were acting really selfish."

"I couldn't help it." said Harry as he shook his head slightly.

Ginny frowned as she took her hands off of the doorway and took a step into the room. "Why not?" she asked.

Harry looked up at Ginny who was now standing with her back against the wall, and hastily said "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?" she asked again.

"Do you have any idea what my birthday means to me?" he asked, with a hint of agitation building in his voice.

Ginny ignored his tone and thoughtfully responded "Yeah, it was the most miserable day of the year for you when you lived with the Dursley's"

Harry snorted and in a very sarcastic way, he said "Yeah, that's it."

Ginny watched as Harry put his hands behind his head and flung himself backwards onto his pillow. "Harry." Ginny snapped.

"What?" Harry retorted as he turned his head to look at her.

Ginny took a step towards the bed and folded her arms across her chest. "Would you stop acting like such a child and just talk to me?"

Harry stared at her as he said "Why?"

Ginny moved her hands to her pockets and swayed slightly as she crossed her legs.

"Because I want to know what's wrong."

Harry quickly turned his head away from her "No you don't. Trust me, you don't."

Ginny moved across the room and squatted down right next to the bed and said "Yes I do. I want to help."

"Well, I wouldn't want to freak out again." said Harry sarcastically as he turned his head back towards her.

"I'm really sorry about that Harry." said Ginny with genuine remorse. "I really am. I was scared…"

"Yeah well…" snapped Harry as he sat up.

Ginny waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she was unable to hide the agitation in her voice as she said "Well what Harry? What's going on with you?"

"Oh you know, watching people die, then watching people be happy." he replied in the same sarcastic tone he had been using.

"You are going to have to let it go sooner or later Harry." Ginny said. "You know that don't you?" she added when she did not get any response from him.

"Well, I don't want to." said Harry as he looked away again.

Ginny was growing impatient. "Why not?" she asked.

Harry rounded on her. He just sat there staring at her for a second before answering. "A day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about that night and how I almost got us all killed."

Ginny rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "So we're going to go through this again are we?" she asked. She took a deep breath and let out an enormous sigh before continuing. "It wasn't your fault Harry, and every day you keep this up, you are pushing away people who care about you."

"Well, maybe people shouldn't care so much then!" Harry snapped as he got up off the bed to face Ginny.

"Harry come on you don't mean that." Ginny said as the last of her patience was wearing thin.

"Oh, then tell me Miss Weasly what do I mean?" sneered Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm again. He threw his arms into the air, turned his back on her and walked across the room.

"You want people to care Harry." Ginny shouted.

He stopped and turned back towards her. Irritation filled his voice as he said loudly "Then why don't they?"

"WHAT?" yelled Ginny as her fists balled up and her arms shot to her side.

"Ginny…" he started to say as he looked up towards the ceiling.

"Molly, wait!" called Mr. Weasley. He watched as his wife stood up and started moving towards the stairs to stop the fight.

"Arthur, listen to them! We've got to stop this." said Mrs. Weasley with a concerned voice.

As Mrs. Weasley rushed towards the stairs, Remus Lupin caught her arm before she could go up. "Molly." He said in a calm voice.

"What Remus? They are going to kill each other." she pleaded as she pulled against his grip.

"No they won't Molly." he began as he let go of her. "They care very much about each other and I think this is something that needed to happen for quite some time. I've watched them together for a long time now, and I think that they need to work this out between them selves."

"But Remus…" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly. They need to do this. They are not little children any more. This is between them. Let them work it out." Remus said as he stared into Mrs. Weasley's eyes.

She looked around at those gathered around the room. No one said anything as the argument raged upstairs. She looked into Remus' eyes and saw the honesty and truth about what he believed. With a deep sigh she turned around and sat down.

Remus sat next to her. He could see the pain that the fight upstairs was causing her and he said softly "We just need to make sure we are there for them to help pick up the pieces."

Mr. Weasley walked up to his wife, and held out his hands and pulled her up from the chair into his embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and started crying. "Are they really going to be Ok Arthur?" she asked.

"Our kids will be fine Molly. They will be just fine." he said reassuringly.

Harry lowered his eyes to look at her, but she just took a step backwards. Ginny's voice was trembling with suppressed rage as she raised a finger and pointed it directly at him. "No Harry, you listen to me. There is a room full of people down there who care about you." She pointed forcefully at the shirt she had given him that was lying crumpled in the corner. Not taking her eyes off of him, she continued "See that shirt crumpled over in the corner? I wanted to get you something I thought you'd like because I CARE Harry."

"Oh, is that what this is about? Your stupid shirt?" snapped Harry with an air of fake comprehension.

Ginny winced as his bitter words hit her. Trying not to show her hurt, she stared at him, shook her head and said in an exasperated voice "Oh, don't be stupid Harry."

"Then what's it about?" asked Harry impatiently.

Ignoring his question, Ginny continued "I had to work really hard to get that stupid shirt for you." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts "And no, Harry, this is not about a shirt!"

"Then what's it about?" Harry asked again, much more loudly this time as he flung his hands out.

"It's about you acting like a child!" she yelled quickly as she pointed at him.

"I am not acting like a child." he replied defiantly

"Then quit being so childish!" she shouted.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Childish? Was I being childish in the ministry of magic?" he challenged.

"What?" she said with a confused look on her face.

Harry felt his temper flaring to the surface. "Yeah, that's right." he growled as he crossed the room towards her. "I didn't hear you complain much when I had to get us out of there."

Ginny flung her hands "We all made our own way out of there and it was The Order and Dumbledore who saved us, not you."

"Oh, so I didn't do anything?" he said bitterly.

Ginny's throat was dry and she gulped while shaking her head. "That's not what I said." she explained in a hoarse voice. "We all did our part Harry."

"Who was the one who had the part of watching Sirius go through the veil? Huh?" Harry shouted angrily. "You?"

Ginny coughed slightly before taking a step towards him. She pointed and him and flung her arm as she yelled "No, you and a whole lot of others who cared just as much about him as you did."

Harry turned away from her and sat back down on the bed. "Yeah well," he began "we shouldn't have even been there in the first place."

Looking down at Harry, and meeting his gaze she said "No, we shouldn't have, but we followed you there because we believed in you."

The anger flared in Harry again as he stood up and said "So now this is all my fault?"

"I didn't say that." said Ginny

"You didn't have to." Harry said. He pointed at her and continued "aren't you the one who's always saying I shouldn't blame myself?"

Ginny put her hands on her hips. Irritation was in her voice as she said "Yeah, and you shouldn't, we all went together."

"Because I was acting childish and didn't think of anyone but myself?" Harry said sarcastically as he mockingly put his hands on his hips.

Ginny covered her face with her hands and let out a sigh "That's not what I am saying." she said through her hands.

Harry folded his arms and said "Then what are you saying?"

Ginny moved her hands from her face back to her hips. "I'm saying that all of us cared about Sirius and we all went to save him because we all thought he was in danger."

"Because I said he was?" Harry said nod. His face darkened as he spat "Well that was your first mistake then."

"No it wasn't a mistake Harry." said Ginny, trying to calm her voice a bit. "We all went because we thought he was in danger."

Harry just kept looking at her as he said "Because I dragged you all there?"

Ginny shook her head. "No! If there was a chance of saving him…"

"Because I almost got us all killed?" said Harry before Ginny had finished her last statement.

"Arrrggghhh" she screamed. "No Harry. Would you listen to me? Because we all cared about you!" she yelled as her anger threatened to boil over.

"Well, fine lot of good that did us. Why didn't you try to stop me?" yelled Harry.

Ginny's closed the distance between her and Harry. She got right up in his face and shouted "We did!"

Harry took a step back, shook his head and pointed an accusing finger at her and shouted "No! YOU didn't. YOU just pushed me right along."

Ginny leveled her eyes on Harry, and with a trembling but determined voice, she shouted coarsely "Don't go blaming me for this!"

"Well maybe if you had tried a bit harder to stop me Sirius wouldn't be dead right now!" spat Harry.

Ginny had tears of rage filling her eyes. "It wasn't my fault Harry. Don't you even dare blame his death on me!" she screamed.

"Why not? We were all in it together remember?" Harry yelled sarcastically.

Ginny's lost all control over her anger. "Why were we there again?" she screamed, her words filled with fury "Oh yeah…it was your arrogance that got us into that mess. You couldn't slow down for a minute to think could you? You just had to go and save the day didn't you? And look where it got us!"

With his hands on his hips, Harry shouted "It's not my fault you followed me. I didn't ask you to come." and jabbing a finger at her face he screamed "THAT was your fault!"

His words pierced her heart. She had gone with him because she cared. She had almost sacrificed her life for him, and with tears falling down her face, she drew her hand back and laid it across the side of Harry's face with the force of all her rage. Harry just stood there staring at her in stunned silence. He slowly moved his hand to the spot where she had hit him.

Ginny took a few quick breaths to calm herself. She met his gaze with cool eyes before she said "How dare you even think that! You really are an ass Harry."

"Just go Ginny." Harry said as he shook his head, turned away from her, and walked back towards the bed.

"Harry." Ginny said as she reached out a hand toward him.

Harry rounded on her and screamed "GET OUT!" as he pointed to the door

Ginny pulled her hand back and said "Why?"

Harry looked at her. "Leave me alone." he said in total exasperation as he sat back down on the corner of his bed.

"Why? So you can run away again?" she said as her anger flowed through her again.

Harry's head shot up and he glared at her. "Yeah, that's right. Listen Ginny…" he spat with venom in his voice.

Ginny did not give him a chance to finish his statement. She moved up to him so her face was inches from his. She locked his eyes in a cold stare and he visibly shuddered as she began "No, you listen to me Harry, you may not like it but that doesn't matter." She eased away from him as she continued "You have a whole lot of people counting on you. Not just the people down stairs." She swept her arm around as she said "Take a good look all around you Harry. You're their hero." She pointed at him and her voice got louder until she was screaming again. "You're the boy who lived, and like it or not, it's about time you grow up and start acting like it!"

She stood up straight and turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut with all the rage that still coursed through her. She heard things fall off the walls in the room as the door slammed.

She began to shake, and the tears began to flow freely from her eyes, streaking her face as she rushed down the stairs to her room. When she got there, she flew through the door and kicked it shut as she collapsed onto her bed in a fit of whole body weeping.

Harry just watched Ginny go, and he felt himself cringe as the door slammed. He heard several things that had once been hanging on the wall hit the floor. He just laid there and didn't bother looking over to see what had fallen. He had never seen her so angry, and never that angry with him, but right now, he didn't care.

He just rested on his bed for a long time thinking about what had just happened. His thoughts were so confused that he could not make any sense out of anything. His eyes were growing heavy under the strain he felt as he settled in for a tourtured night's sleep.


	8. Excuses and Apologies

Chapter 7: Excuses and Apologies

Ginny woke up the next morning and the sun was pouring through the tattered curtains into her room. Her eyes were heavy and they burned as she struggled to open them. Memories of the fight she and Harry had had the night before came rushing back. She felt her anger start to rise again as she sat up slowly and looked around her room. Hermione was not in her bed, and Ginny assumed she had woken up hours earlier since judging by the sunlight in her room, it was nearly noon.

Ginny got slowly out of bed and walked to her cupboard. She opened it and grabbed some clothes and got dressed. Still unable to open her eyes completely, she made her way to the stairs and walked down to the kitchen. When she got there it was empty so she went over to the stove and made herself a cup of coffee.

She carried the cup in both hands and blew at the steam that was rising from it, as she walked out the back door and over to the pond. Once she was there, she took off her shoes, and sat down and put her feet in the water. She still had not seen anyone, and began to wonder where everyone was when a voice called her name from behind.

"Ginny?" said Harry.

Ginny just sat there and did not look back, but she could feel her hands tighten slightly around the hot cup she was holding.

"Ginny?" said Harry again as he stepped up next to her.

Ginny did not look up at him as she spoke. "What?"

"About last night…" Harry began hesitantly.

"I'm fine Harry. I know you didn't mean it." said Ginny, still not looking at him.

"Mean what?" he asked.

Ginny raised her head and looked at Harry. "What you said about me."

Harry's face screwed up in a confused look as he asked "What I said about you?"

Ginny saw the look in his eyes and realized that he had no idea what she was talking about. She did not have the energy to fight with him right now so she just sighed and said "Forget about it Harry. I'm fine."

"No. I want to know…" he began in protest.

"Harry, I said drop it. I don't want to fight about this right now." she interrupted as she stood up and grabber her shoes.

She stepped past Harry without looking at him, leaving him staring at her with a look of total disbelief on his face. He took a step towards her then he stopped and watched her go into the house.

Ginny walked up the steps and through the door. When she walked in, she noticed that Tonks and Hermione were in the kitchen. "Have we had owl post yet?" she called as she dropped her shoes.

"Yeah." replied Hermione.

Ginny excitedly asked "Did I get anything?"

"No." said Hermione.

"Have you seen Harry yet today?" asked Tonks as Ginny walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, just a minute ago." said Ginny as she jerked her head in the direction of the door. Her voice was dripping with irritation as she continued. "He wanted to talk about last night, but I don't think he thinks he did anything wrong. What are you doing here Tonks?"

"Oh. I'm on my lunch break. I was just helping Hermione with some studies." said Tonks as the hopeful look fell from her face.

"Did he say anything about the Daily Prophet article this morning?" asked Hermione.

A confused and curious look crossed Ginny's face. "No. Why?" she said.

Hermione picked the newspaper up off of the counter and handed it to Ginny. "Look on page fourteen. Lower right."

Ginny quickly found the page and began reading. Her eyes opened wide, and her voice broke slightly as she read aloud. "Arabella Figg, resident of Little Whinging has been reported missing…" Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Hermione and Tonks. "How did Harry take this?" she asked matter of factly.

"He was kind of quiet, but seemed alright." said Hermione.

"Wow. Has anybody heard anything other than what is in here?" asked Ginny as she held up the newspaper.

"Not really. This was the first I heard of it. I'm sure we'll find something out soon." said Tonks. "I really have to get going. Will you be up at the office tomorrow Hermione? We have some more things we need to work on."

Hermione looked nervously at Ginny, and could tell by the look on the youngest Weasley's face that she would have some explaining to do. "Ummm…Yeah. I'll be there." said Hermione finally as she lifted her head confidently.

"Well, ta then!" said Tonks as she stepped back and drew her wand. With a loud crack she was gone.

Hermione turned towards Ginny and saw her staring intently at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You tell me. Going into the office? Disappearing all the time? What's going on Hermione? For real?" said Ginny forcefully, yet caringly.

Hermione took a deep breath, and seemed to collect her thoughts before continuing. "Do you remember your second year?"

Ginny nodded.

"Well, that year, professor McGonnogal arranged for me to use a time turner to take more subjects." said Hermione slowly.

Ginny just kept nodding and said "Keep going." when Hermione stopped talking

"I had to swear not to tell anyone. I didn't tell Harry. I didn't even tell your brother. I wanted to tell him so desperately, but I had made a promise to McGonogal. I made a promise this time too. I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone. If I did, a lot of people would get into serious trouble, including your dad."

Ginny looked appraisingly at Hermione. "Ok." she said reluctantly. "But please tell me that it is not illegal, or dangerous and is going to get you hurt or in trouble."

Hermione looked down and nervously rubbed her hands together. After a moment, she looked up at Ginny. "Ummm…" she began.

Ginny watched Hermione struggling and finally said "Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at Ginny and said "I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I won't bother you about it anymore." said Ginny finally with a smile, much to Hermione's relief.

Harry watched Ginny go into the house before walking back to the far side of the house. As soon as he rounded the corner, he saw Ron, still pulling weeds from the flowers. "Hey. Did you find her?" Ron asked as he stood up slowly.

"Yeah. She didn't really want to talk though. She actually acted as though she didn't do anything wrong." Harry said with an awkward chuckle.

Ron bent back down and began pulling weeds again. "She'll come around." he said as Harry joined him.

Later that day, long after dinner and after everyone had gone to sleep, Harry laid awake in his bed. He could hear the slow rhythmic breathing of Ron in the bed next to his. Harry had been staring at the ceiling for the last hour and could not sleep. He kept replaying the events of the night before, and finally started thinking about the dream he had had. He couldn't help but feel that on some level, it had been less like a dream, and more like a vision. Like a message sent to him from beyond the veil.

Quietly, he got out of bed, and made his way across the room to the door. He looked back at Ron's sleeping form before slipping through the door and down the stairs to the living room.

As he walked around the corner, he saw the familiar red hair hanging over the back of the couch. He and Ginny, though never planned, had managed to end up downstairs almost every night since Harry had come to the burrow over a week ago.

Harry stood there looking at her hair for a moment, listening and watching for any sing of movement. Finally, he walked over to the couch and sat down. Harry looked over and saw Ginny with her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling slowly as she slept. She looked so peaceful that Harry could not help but smile slightly. He sat watching her for a long time and finally his eyes grew too heavy to keep open, and he drifted off to sleep.

Ginny woke suddenly and for a few seconds, she did not remember where she was. She looked around quickly until her eyes had adjusted to being open. They finally came to rest on Harry who was sleeping on the other end of the couch from her. Like Harry had done before, she sat looking at him while he slept. Her face hardened slightly as her thoughts drifted back to the fight they had had the night before. She felt a pain in her chest as she heard his hurtful words echo through her head.

Slowly, Ginny got up, trying not to disturb the sleeping Harry Potter. She was just about around the couch when she heard a hoarse voice call her name.

"Ginny?" said Harry.

Ginny turned and looked at him. She saw the smile on his face, but until he apologized for saying she caused Sirius' death, she would not be swayed, no matter how adorable he was. "What?" she said sharply.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked.

"I was going to bed, unless you are ready to apologize to me." said Ginny as she put her balled fists on her hips.

"Apologize?" began Harry. His face was overtaken with a look of disbelief. "For what?" he said as he stood up quickly.

Ginny sighed loudly, rolled her eyes and turned towards the stairs. "Good night Harry." she said as she started walking up the stairs leaving a completely dumbfounded Harry standing at the bottom.

"Ginny!" called Harry, but Ginny kept walking without looking back.

Harry stared at the stairs Ginny had just gone up. His mind was in turmoil as he desperately tried to understand why Ginny thought he needed to apologize. After thinking of half a dozen reasons he though she should apologize, he walked back up to his room and went to sleep.

Harry awoke the next morning and was unable to move his arms. After struggling for a few moments he stopped and opened his eyes. As his mind cleared slightly, he looked down and saw that his arms were being held to his side by his covers. He rolled over and his arms came loose.

"Where did you go last night?" came Ron's voice.

Harry looked over towards Ron, who was still laying in his bed. "I couldn't sleep."

"I noticed. You were tossing and turning all night again." said Ron as he looked over at Harry. "So where did you go?"

Harry lifted himself slowly onto his elbows. "I went downstairs to think." he said.

"Oh." replied Ron, deciding not to press the issue.

He and Harry grudgingly got out of their beds and got dressed. Harry's mind was still fixed on the conversation, or lack there of he had tried to have with Ginny the night before. He knew he had been harsh with her on his birthday, but she had been rather harsh herself he thought. Before he knew it, he and Ron were walking downstairs.

"Good morning." said Hermione as Ron and Harry walked into the kitchen. She was sitting at the kitchen table holding her copy of the Daily Prophet, which she had lowered slightly when the boys walked in.

Harry's eyes were barely open as he raised his hand slightly and grunted "Yeah."

"Morning." said Ron quietly. His demeanor brightened slightly as he saw Hermione's smiling face.

"Have you heard yet?" she asked the boys as she held out her newspaper for them to examine.

Ron looked over and gave Harry a questioning look. Harry's heart jumped slightly as he recalled the news from the morning before. "Heard what?" they said together.

"Look!" exclaimed Hermione as she handed the paper to Ron and pointed out the front page headline.

Ron took the paper and the three of them crowded around it. "Minister Fudge Called On For Answers." it read. Ron let out a low whistle and slid into the chair next to Hermione. He continued reading the article. "Look's like Fudge is in trouble." he said finally.

Hermione nodded in agreement. She stood up and moved behind Ron. She rested her chin on his shoulder as she strained to continue reading. "I have heard rumours flying around the Ministry when I have been up there with Tonks." she said absently.

"What have you been up there with Tonks for?" asked Ron as he put the paper on the table and turned to look at her.

Hermione moved back and shook her head slightly and looked into Ron's suspicious eyes. "Well, you know. Things." Seeing that he was still confused, she added with a reassuring nod "for school."

Ron furrowed his brow a bit, and then looked over at Harry. Harry had picked up the paper and was intently reading the front page article about The Ministry of Magic. He had obviously not heard what Hermione had said.

Just as Ron was about to ask Hermione what she meant, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked into the kitchen. "Good morning." said Mr. Weasley cheerfully.

"Dad." said Ron. "What's going on with Fudge? It said in the Prophet that he is about to be sacked."

Mr. Weasley smiled slightly as he walked over next to Mrs. Weasley and poured himself some tea. "Oh did it now?" he said without looking up from his cup.

Two hours later, Ginny sat bolt upright in her bed. Crack came the noise against her window again. She threw her covers back and hurried over and pulled back the tattered curtains. "Oh, they are going to be in so much trouble if mum catches them." muttered Ginny to herself.

Outside, she saw Ron and Harry on their brooms zooming over the pond, and the occasional speck of gold that caught her eye told her that they were playing a game of Catch the Snitch. She jumped back quickly as the old battered snitch of Ron's slammed into her window again. She smiled inwardly as she saw Harry flying towards her.

Their eyes briefly met and suddenly he faltered on his broom, and began to plummet towards the ground. Her heart jumped and she let out an audible sigh of relief as he righted himself just before striking the ground. After a split second, he was in pursuit of the snitch again with Ron close behind.

She watched them for a while longer before going to her cupboard and finding some clothes. As she was getting dressed, her thoughts were consumed by Harry and their evolving friendship. She laughed aloud as she thought back to her first years at Hogwarts and how she had barely been able to string two words together in his presence, and how now, she and Harry were able to hold entire conversations using only two words. Her face tightened as she thought about how they were also able to fight using as many words as they could fling at each other, and still remain friends.

Crack came the sound of the snitch again, causing her to jump. "I am still mad at you Harry Potter" she said to herself through a smile as she watched him dash away from her window again.

As Ginny was walking down the stairs, she heard her mum's voice tear through the otherwise silent morning. "Ronald Weasley! Harry Potter!"

Ginny hurried down the rest of the stairs and through the kitchen. She saw her mum standing in the open doorway. Her face was nearly as red as her hair as she screamed again. "You two come here this instant!"

Ginny walked over to the stove and poured herself a cup of hot water for tea. She turned and leaned back against the counter, and with a smirk on her face, she waited for Harry and Ron to land.

Moments later, Ron and Harry walked, heads down, into the kitchen followed closely by an irate Mrs. Weasley. "You two! What were you thinking?"

Ron and Harry just stood there not moving or saying anything.

"Well? I'm waiting! You could have been seen by muggles. With everything going on right now in the Ministry, that would NOT be a good thing to have happen. Your father has worked too hard…" yelled Mrs. Weasley.

"Sorry mum." interrupted Ron.

"Yeah, sorry Mrs. Weasley." said Harry, eyes still cast downwards.

"Mum, have we had owl post yet today?" asked Ginny.

Mrs. Weasley's head whipped around towards Ginny. "No Ginny." she said before turning back towards the boys.

"Mum?" said Ginny again.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"I don't think it was their faults really. That old Snitch of Ron's really doesn't have much of a mind left, and it took them up here to the house. They were just trying to catch it and go back to the lower garden." said Ginny matter of factly.

Mrs. Weasley looked from Ginny to the boys and back again. She seemed to be weighing Ginny's words carefully. Her face softened slightly. "Well," she began in a calmer voice. "You two need to be more careful. Flying out in the open like that. Not only could the muggles have seen you, but so could anyone else."

Harry and Ron were noticeably relieved as Mrs. Weasley walked out of the kitchen without any further reprimand. Harry looked up at Ginny and with a weak smile he said "Thanks."

Ginny's face hardened as she glared at Harry. "I didn't do it for you. I just didn't want to hear mum yell any more. It was making my head hurt."

"Then why didn't you just leave?" said Harry as he returned her stare.

Ginny looked at him for a second longer and then shaking her head, she turned and walked out of the kitchen. "Ron." she called from the other room. "Where is Hermione?"

"She went with Tonks earlier. She said she'd be back by lunch." came the voice of Harry.

"My, your voice changed RON!" she called back before walking out the front door away from The Burrow and towards the village.


End file.
